Sonadow - Legend of the Seven Hedgehogs
by SonicsFan4ever
Summary: Second Part to 'Sonadow - The Island'. Please read this story first, if you haven't already. Almost two years have passed since the Island-incident and Sonic and Shadow are still quite reserved towards each other. It's a good thing, that their old (and new) friends help them with their relationship! ...Or not. Will contain mpreg and heavy stuff. M rated, real summary in prologue.
1. Prologue: In a place called Hell

_**Sonadow – Legend of the Seven Hedgehogs**_

_Almost two years have passed since the Island-incident and Sonic and Shadow are still quite reserved towards each other. It's a good thing, that their old (and new) friends help them with their relationship! ...Or not, considering, that suddenly things happen, that make one thing more than clear: it's the worst time possible to be pregnant..._

* * *

**Prologue: In a place called Hell**

Hell was a dark place. He knew, that there were people believing, that there was fire, lava and stuff like that, but that was only partly true.

There was fire, yes. To be precise, this were the souls, who got sent here. They appeared as red flames, some darker, some brighter, but never very bright – they weren't here, because they had been saints, after all.

Their souls had been darkened by their crimes, with each one a little more, and when they had finally bitten the dust, then they were too dark and heavy to reach, what the mortals called 'heaven'. Therefore, they were here.

The lucky ones had some light left in them. Why they were lucky? Because hell was a dark, void place. There was nothing, but darkness. Just darkness and loneliness. Those, who were rotten to the core, were damned to spend their afterlife in total darkness and alone, unaware of other souls surrounding them. Those, who had some light left in them, caused by a good deed, or some good memories, could see at least other souls thanks to their illumination, although they couldn't speak to each other. They spent some centuries in their own memories and with the thought of being with others, before those memories faded, together with the souls. Souls in hell didn't live forever, they dissolved someday, to be reborn later and hopefully live better lives. Had to be about mercy, or something like that.

He had used to love this. To watch the souls writhe in the pain of an agonizing singularity – even the lighter ones were alone in a way, after all –, to hear their voices, pleading for mercy, not aware of the fact, that they would get it soon enough.

Now, however, he was bored out of his mind, because he was forced to be the guard of this mind-numbing place. Seriously, who would ever try to destroy hell? It was impossible anyway! And no one in his right mind would EVER try to break into this place. He was probably the only one, who tried to break out, who wasn't just accepting his fate...well, he was the only one with limbs here, so...yeah, the only one, who _could_ try to break out.

He sat on his throne, the only thing, that was in this place, and watched, how the first batch of souls for today – he had a certain understanding of time by instinct – appeared in front of him. He could hear their whining and after hearing it for so long, it just was annoying now. Always this 'Please, I didn't mean it!', or 'I'll change my ways, promise!'. Fools. After dying, it was too late to change something. And if they 'hadn't meant it', then they wouldn't be here.

"Leave already!," he finally growled and waved his hand to let them disappear, in one corner of hell for their centuries of punishment, that he knew was free. Of course, he separated the souls after their brightness.

He had thankfully been able to arrange, that the souls came in batches and not one by one – or he would go crazy! People died every second after all. They didn't all land in hell, but those, who did, could very soon become a chorus of whiny wimps...and a migraine-reason for him.

Sighing, he snapped his fingers and let a giant hourglass appear next to him, watching the dark blue glowing sand falling from the upper half in the lower one. "Two more weeks.," he growled impatiently.

Once every month, but never at the same time, there was a small time window for him to try and flee, then, there opened the gate between hell and Mobius. Even though he had never missed this time window since his imprisonment, he had never been able to make it out of this place.

"Why? Because the one, who had once caged him in this place, never missed it, too – and was always there to chase him back. Lately, he had simply put up a _wall_ he just couldn't get past to stop him, as if to humiliate him even more. Oh...he hated him so much...

If only being here would be at least a little interesting! He sighed and rolled on his back, snapping his fingers again, to let the three souls appear, that he had bound to himself. They were connected with his throne by small golden chains, that wrapped around the flames.

These souls were different. They didn't have the usual red hue, but had their own special colors, they were so rotten, so dark and so void of regret or fear, that they had become unique. The first one was dark brown, the second dark gray and the third bright pink. "Why can't they be like you?," he asked, wistfully, waved his hand and called all three closer to him, the chains loosening for the time being.

With eyes full of adoration, he took the first one, the dark brown soul, in his clawed hand and caressed it, as if it was a pet. "Why can't they be like you, Jack the Rabbit, renamed Jack the Ripper? Nobody had ever realized, that it had been a harmless rabbit, who had killed all the mobians and humans. For twelve years had you been the nightmare for everyone, until a cold winter night ended your life far too early. Too bad, that you have been homeless. And the world had been so primitive back then... And yet, you don't regret it one bit. If only I could bring you back to life to murder more..."

With a small smile, he gently let the soul go and took the next one, the dark gray one. "Ah, Dr. Grayham. Like a modern Dr. Frankenstein, you had tried to create the ultimate lifeform. It's funny, your own creation was in the end emyour/em end. And still, you are trying to find ways to correct your mistake. If only you had still a body..."

He let the soul go and was pretty much jumped by the third. Chuckling, he took the soul in his hands, too. "Oh, I would never forget my precious little Rosy! The deadliest little girl I know! It was so thrilling to hear about your murders. It is such a shame, that your little heart couldn't take the stress. You could have become a star of crime, my dearest, your name whispered with fear for years to come! A shame, indeed."

Sighing once more and bracing himself for the next batch of damned souls, that he felt collecting, he let the trio of his favorites go back to their places and turned on his side again to watch the new souls coming.

His fiery red eyes widened in rare surprise, when in front of his eyes lit up dozens of souls, far more, than he was used to seeing in a single batch. Frowning, he stood up, weaving his way through the many flames, examining them. If he saw that right, then they had all died shortly after each other, at the same place, judging by the exact same hue of red they had. A mass suicide, perhaps?

He stopped upon seeing another hue, than red, in all of these flames. A completely black flame, practically giving out negative energy, glowing in the dark. It was rotten to the core, just like his favorite trio.

"My, my, what an evil little thing you are.," he smirked and called the soul over with his hand, letting it land on his other palm. "Now, tell me everything.," he ordered. Listening to the soul, his eyes narrowed and he smirked.

"Is that true?," he finally grinned, when the soul was done with telling. "In this case, I'll have a proposition for you, my friend..."

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I'm sorry for the short and so far not really telling chapter. I had planned to upload the first chapter as well, but reading through it today, I found, that it isn't as good as I had wanted it to be. I'll need a little more time for it. I didn't want you to feel or think though, that I forgot you or about this story, that's why I gave you at least that prologue. I should be able to work further on the story between Wednesday and Friday, as I don't have any lessons there, so I figure, that you can expect the first real chapter on Friday at the latest.

Until then and have a nice Sunday!


	2. 1: What's wrong, Sonic?

Hi guys, don't be alarmed, I used my last episode of writer's block to take care of my first mini-chapters of this story and to fuse them together - instead of 11, you now have 7. I didn't change much, I just tried to get the chapters to fit together and maybe wrote a word or two more or changed a few of them. They don't miss anything you already read in them, promise. I'm not sure anymore, if I maybe broke up a chapter into two halves, but I can tell you, that I only used titles you already knew, so to say my favorite (and most fitting) ones. Now, enjoy the longer chapters :)!

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**1: What's wrong, Sonic?**

_He moaned, while gentle hands traced down his body, the fingertips touching just the right places to send shivers down his spine. _

"_Sh-Shadow...," he whimpered, his hips bucking against the hedgehog over him, while the rest of his body felt like mush under those capable fingers. "Please... more...," he begged and growling possessively, the seme leaned down to fulfill the request, nipping and licking every single one of the mapped-out places he had found so far, going to deeper located places of his love's body each time, drawing passionate moans out of his uke. _

_He was almost too lost in pleasure. Almost. Over the quills of his mate, he suddenly saw a tall figure in the shadows, moving closer to their bed, stepping into the light._

_His eyes widened and his heart beat painfully fast. It was a human, an old man, with round glasses, white, neatly combed hair and a walking stick in his hand. His usually wrinkled face was halfway rotten, the left half of his face just a skull, with the eyeball hanging out of the socket, while the right half was a mass of pale-greenish flesh. _

_The dark, remaining eye was watching them with unhidden greed. "Come on, give me, what I want!," he snarled._

* * *

"AAAAHHH!" At once, Sonic sat up, panting. In the next second, he felt his body turning to the side and before he had grasped the situation, he already fell off the branch and down the tree he had sat on, into some bushes, landing on his back.

"Not again.," he groaned, while waiting for the world to stop spinning. He noticed, that the sky didn't look much darker than when he had dozed off, it couldn't have been more than two hours of sleep he had gotten.

He frowned. Again a nightmare. Since about two weeks, he had those strange dreams. They all started the same, him and Shadow...well, about to do it, but every time it became... interesting, there was something interrupting them. And the reason was getting worse each time. At first, he had dreamed of Tails and Cream coming unexpectedly in the room – a true nightmare, if that would truly happen – then, in the next dream, he had gotten a phone call, both, in reality and in his dream, which had woken him up.

The most disturbing one so far (not to mention the last one a few minutes ago) had been Eggman barging through the door, wearing a pink tutu – and nothing else – and telling him, that everyone was waiting for his show...whatever show he meant. He shuddered at the memory. Thankfully, the dream had faded mostly out of his memories by now and the details weren't as clear anymore.

And now, that. He had recognized the half decayed human, of course. How could he ever forget this face? Thanks to this man, he and his friends had gone through a martyr beyond compare.

Jester Perringten.

The name alone was like a curse and no one of them could hear it without feeling their chests constricting with the painful memories. Thanks to this man, Sonic had doubted his own body and mind, his whole being.

All had started with Eggman outing him as an uke, something, that some male hedgehogs were. Ukes were male in appearance, but could become pregnant, like females.

And Perringten had known and used that. He had kidnapped ukes and semes – the completely male hedgehogs, so to say – to let them mate again and again. He had wanted the pups resulting out of the forced pregnancies, but for what – Sonic had no idea. He had only seen one of the pups, that had gotten born there, anyway. It worried him, that neither Shadow, his boyfriend and mate, nor Tails, his brother by choice, had seen the babies on their way back from the Island – that had been the name of the hellhole, as harmless, as fitting.

Sonic frowned, while blinking in the sun above him. He himself...had had pups, too. Perringten had let another seme rape him to provoke Shadow into raping him as well. The dark seme had just in time snapped out of it, but it had been too late. His virginity had been gone and he had been pregnant from the other seme. He wasn't so sure, if he was glad, that he had had a miscarriage, that had almost costed him his life in the process.

Sometimes, if he hadn't have anything to distract him, he asked himself, how it would have been. Being pregnant, and stuff like that.

Well, on Perringten's little landmass of horror, he would have been chained to a bed for the three months the pregnancy would have lasted, to get the children cut out of him afterwards, without seeing them ever again, if even once. But now, he was free...

Sighing, he sat up and shook his head, fast. He didn't know, why he was suddenly thinking about something like _that_.

Since about two weeks, everything was out of whack – again. For some reason, he had started to feel almost as ill, as he had about two years ago, when Eggman and Perringten, as a very temporary team, had brought him into thinking, that he was really just a completely weak uke. They had drugged him secretly, until he had been convinced, that he had needed to go to the uke institute, a fake institution, that he had never seen, he had been kidnapped to the Island right away.

The worst part had been, that Tails, Amy and Knuckles had found out about the fake uke institute and had gotten themselves captured, while trying to find and rescue him. Especially Tails had suffered a lot during this time and Sonic couldn't forgive himself for ever doubting himself, which had brought them all in this situation in the first place.

And now, his body was failing him again. Since those last two weeks, he was feeling very ill: He felt often sick to the stomach, which resulted almost always in vomiting, if he had something in his stomach, or not. He couldn't even run anymore, without upsetting his stomach, which was, why he denied himself his favorite hobby for the time being, unless it was absolutely necessary.

He got fevers at random occasions, which passed usually within an hour or so, but sometimes only after a day, or two.

He had sleeping problems, that either kept him awake for long time periods, or, as it had been at first, had kept him in a so deep slumber, that only being thrown in a bathtub filled with ice cold water (his friends had been desperate, but he was still a little miffed, because of this stunt) could wake him up, and to top it off, he had frequent, quite annoying headaches...like now.

He barely had an appetite anymore, especially not for his favorite food, chilidogs, mostly, because he vomited them out anyway shortly after eating them, but he also just didn't like them right now. If anything, he ate fruits and vegetables – in masses. Not that he wasn't a fan of healthy food, but the amount he was eating lately, was simply ridiculous... and Shadow probably needed to make sky-high debts to get his cravings...

The worst part was, that his instincts were going crazy. He was keeping a distance to each and everyone. Whenever Tails, Shadow, or whoever, came closer to him, even if they just tried to help him, he found himself backing off, or even running away. It wasn't out of fear, at least not the fear of getting hurt by them, which was a little reassuring, but he still felt the rare knot of panic in his gut, whenever someone came to him. Everyone needed to keep at least one meter as a distance, if they wanted to talk with him properly. One step closer – and Sonic was gone.

It was scary, how similar this was to the events from about two years ago. He hadn't have cravings (besides the craving for absolutely no food at all) or had felt the need to distance himself back then, but otherwise, it was the same.

The most important difference, however, was, that his mind was still clear. He didn't feel scared of anyone or anything, or started to cry every five minutes (a little exaggerated, but not much). He didn't doubt himself, not this time. His mood wasn't the best right now, like before, but this time, it was, because he hadn't been able to sleep properly for days now and often reacquainted himself with his food. Still, that he was this sick with these particular symptoms...

He looked up, when he heard a noise and looked up to see Knuckles, standing a few meters away from him, a disapproving glare on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. "Not again.," he growled.

"Hehe...," the hero laughed, embarrassed, scratching his head quills. Of course, the echidna meant his scream, because of the nightmare.

Since he had started to feel strange, Shadow and – to the blue one's surprise – Knuckles were quite literally going crazy with worry.

Shadow had almost obliterated Mobius in his search for Eggman and when he had found the man, he had... interrogated... him into the hospital, just to find out, that he was truly innocent, he had nothing to do with Sonic's current condition. Him being in hospital meant at least, that Sonic wouldn't have to worry about the evil genius anytime soon – and the hero had the feeling, that Shadow had intended just that.

Knuckles had had meanwhile almost destroyed Sonic's and Tails' house, trying to find any tiny robot, that might inject the hero with a drug to lower his health, like it had been the case before. Even after Eggman had been declared innocent by Shadow, Knuckles hadn't stopped.

The outcome: he had tried to kill mosquitoes and other insects with his fists – and usually just hit the furniture to debris. When he had almost killed a stray kitten, that had somehow found its way in the house and was now living with a neighbor's child (and was probably still traumatized), the hero had decided for a change of tactics – which was, why he was since eight days living in a corner of Angel Island, where the echidna could live out his protective instincts to the maximum, without killing anything innocent. Besides, if something dangerous or threatening came on the island, the echidna would know it immediately. This move had actually calmed Knuckles' protective instincts down and reduced them to a manageable intensity.

As the island's guardian, Knuckles reacted still to each and every single one of his screams, that were always caused by his frequent nightmares, which was going on his nerves by now.

For some reason, he hadn't tried to throw him off the island (either literally, or metaphorically), yet, even though he had all reason to do this – and Shadow was making it really clear each day, that he would rather have Sonic with him, even though coming here was the least of his problems.

"Sorry, Knux.," the hedgehog apologized for luring him here...again. "Would you FINALLY take it?," the echidna grumbled.

Sonic frowned immediately. As he had sleeping problems, the guardian had offered him a herb, that grew on Angel Island and that would help him to sleep for once, but Sonic had refused it every time, as well as every other herb for his current ailments so far.

Why? He wasn't quite sure. His instincts were keeping his guard up for some reason and he refused to take anything, that could lower it again...at least that was the only explanation he could come up with.

As Sonic's nightmares were by now also influencing the sleeping rhythm of the guardian as well, Knuckles was ready to do almost everything to get the hero to let them both rest. And just forcing the herbs down his throat was getting more and more attractive.

Suddenly, the echidna raised his head and whipped around. "Shadow, get off my island!," he barked at a bush and really, just a second later, the dark hedgehog came out of his hiding place, by now not surprised anymore.

Shadow had an unique relation to Chaos Energy – unlike all other living beings, he absorbed it and didn't give it off in small amounts, like it was usual with all other life forms on Mobius. Knuckles, as a guardian, could see the Chaos Energy floating over Mobius' surface and of course saw it immediately, when the energy was pulled in a certain direction. Needless to say, that it annoyed Shadow to not be able to sneak up on the other male.

"What are you doing to my mate?," the agent growled, not hiding his aggression. Sonic quickly jumped up, although his stomach and head both protested painfully against the action. He could guess, that this whole situation was stressing his mate out, and seeing now Knuckles almost towering over his uke, who had sat on the ground, was just adding to the tension the seme had to feel currently.

"Shads, calm down! It was nothing, I swear!," Sonic quickly reassured him. Having been in a relationship with him for about two years, the hero knew, that Shadow would protect him without a question and get very aggressive in the process.

Usually, he listened to him, if he said things like 'I'm fine', or 'I can handle (it) myself', but right now, saying both would be a lie. He had grown weaker and lost weight lately, even he himself with his limited knowledge about ukes and semes could imagine, that this was firing up the other's protective instincts.

Seeing, that the two were still in murderous moods, Sonic stepped between them. "Give us a sec, okay?," he asked Knuckles calmly, indicating silently for him to go. The echidna huffed, whirled around and marched away towards the temple. "I would hurry, Rouge was with me.," Shadow called after him, but the echidna, knowing, that he was just trying to get under his skin, didn't react to it.

Shadow turned to Sonic and saw him frowning. "What?," he asked. "Could you stop being an ass all the time?," the hero replied, annoyed, feeling his mood dampen more, than it already had been today. He hated, how Shadow was towards his friends, even though he already knew, that Shadow was acting like that, because he was jealous.

They hadn't have a lot of moments just for themselves so far, because they had been too busy – with saving the world, usually –, but whenever they had have the time to be just among themselves for something else, than sleeping, Shadow had almost always showed jealousy.

It had been touching at first. The news of Sonic being an uke and being on the Island (although the details had not been published, there had leaked out enough for most people to imagine the (wrong) rest) lured several males of all species in his range, whenever he went out, and they were trying to hit on him. They seemed to think, that he wouldn't be able to fight them off, if he had been so long in this place. It had been touching, how Shadow had let those guys back off with a glare or a threat (if necessary), because he got, that Sonic didn't want to fight against and hurt them in any way.

By now, however, the dark seme was going paranoid with jealousy. He saw possible rivals, where there weren't any, especially among Sonic's male friends and fans.

He had even looked at Tails with a murderous glare on several occasions, until Sonic had told him strictly, that he was a brother and best friend to him – and that he would break up immediately, if he continued to do that. The threat had saved at least the young fox genius from Shadow, but the rest of his friends had to be careful not to get too close to Sonic still, when the dark agent was present as well.

Until now, Sonic had no idea, how he could tame the jealousy in his boyfriend. He couldn't always threaten with a break up – years of fighting against Eggman had taught him, that threats had a short expiration date concerning the effect they had.

That Sonic was living with Knuckles (so to say), was provoking Shadow's jealousy greatly – but what could be done against it?

It wasn't, as if the blue hedgehog could simply live with the agent. He had no home for himself, he either stayed with Sonic, or, if he wasn't there (like now), with Rouge, as he had done before the Island-incident. As staying with Sonic, to share his twin bed with him, sleeping together in each other's arm (well, not during the last two weeks...), was heavenly anyway, he hadn't thought about his own place. Now, he regretted it – and Sonic did so, too.

The hero never missed the subtle glares towards his abdomen, that he got from his mate. He knew, what Shadow was searching for. His symptoms, the tiredness, the vomiting, the mood swings (in a way he had those, thanks to his general condition), the strange cravings, the headaches – this were all symptoms of a pregnancy. Tails had researched it by his brother's request, after he had noticed the stares for the first time.

It took no genius to guess Shadow's thoughts from there – Sonic was pregnant because of Knuckles.

It was absolutely absurd and if the echidna would EVER hear of that, he would strangle most likely both, but the hero understood, why he was brought into thinking that. Just like in his dreams, he and Shadow had never gotten far with their intimacy.

The reason? He himself. Whenever Shadow's hands (or mouth) wandered too far south, Sonic found himself pushing him away. As if everything beneath his waistline was a taboo for his boyfriend.

At first, Shadow had blamed the rape and the unwanted pregnancy Sonic had had to endure for this, thinking, that both experiences had made him weary of physical contact. He had wanted to give him all the time he needed to recover, but the blue uke had reassured him, that he wasn't controlled by the past, that this wasn't the reason for his reluctance...he just wasn't able to understand or tell, why he was acting like this. Even shortly before Sonic had started to push _everyone_ away from him, he had still kept him waiting, which just caused Shadow confusion as to why he was refusing him.

And now, both hedgehogs were feeling the consequences of their doing. Sonic's mind was torturing him with dreams, that let him yearn for more of his mate's touches, that he couldn't have in his current condition, while Shadow was getting lost in completely wrong ideas, that let him see his mate in the arms of another.

Sonic would love to end Shadow's thoughts concerning his – imagined – condition, but he didn't know, how to make him realize, that he wasn't pregnant. Maybe he should finally go to a doctor, which he had avoided so far? Tails, Shadow and pretty much everyone else had tried to get him to one, but he had refused every time.

"Any change?," Shadow changed the topic of their conversation, before they would have a fight. It wouldn't be the first one, since this mess had started. Sonic was really moody and Shadow really stressed, so they had ended up several times shouting at each other in rage, until someone dragged Shadow away – or Sonic fled, whatever happened first.

The hero just sighed and shook his head, not saying anything. Shadow pressed his ears to his head in distress. So he still didn't want him closer to himself. He hated to see his mate like this, to feel so powerless, to not know, what was going on. If only there was something he could do!

The two mates looked at each other, not sure, what they could say. _If_ they could say anything, without slipping into an argument.

Two pairs of ears flew up and two heads jerked, when they suddenly heard a double scream, penetrating the silence between them, coming, as they both knew immediately, from the direction of the temple. At once, they raced towards it.

* * *

The two fast hedgehogs reached the temple just a few seconds after they had started running. Sonic came to a stop first and his jaw dropped upon what he saw.

Knuckles was held in the air by a turquoise aura, that kept him in a state of immobility. The person responsible for that, a male, silver furred mobian hedgehog, stood a few meters away from him, his hand outstretched towards the echidna.

Sonic believed, just for a second, that he saw the newcomer's usually light yellow eyes starting to turn red, before a blur of brown and yellow quickly jumped on his outstretched arm, forcing it down and breaking his concentration, while startling the hero out of his musings.

Knuckles was let go, he fell and landed on the ground with practiced ease, immediately looking for the attacker. His tension was lost however, when he noticed, who had saved him from his earlier position.

To the silver male were clinging a young rabbit girl with brown fur and a slightly older fox with yellow fur and two tails. "Please, don't hurt Knuckles, Silver!," the girl just pleaded, while the fox asked at the same time, "What are you doing!?".

A little blue creature with a red bow tie around its neck flew out of the rabbit's arm and up to the male's eye level. "Chao, Chao!," it squeaked, trying to help its little rabbit friend.

Silver seemed to come to his senses finally, because he let his arm fall completely, which was reassuring Cream and Tails, that it was safe to let him go now. They both made some space for him, too. Cheese settled in Cream's arm, feeling quite content there.

Sonic, who stood behind Knuckles, could see a few fresh scratches and bruises on the guardian's back and could now guess, what had happened: Silver had thrown Knuckles against something with his psychokinesis, probably even the temple, which had caused Tails and Cream to shout in surprise – Silver wasn't exactly one, who you expected to attack, Sonic had to admit – before the uke had started another attempt of attacking, which the children had thankfully been able to stop. The bruises weren't bad, Knuckles would shrug them off effortlessly, but get very livid at Silver nonetheless, Sonic didn't need to be a genius to foresee that.

The young uke searched for Knuckles' glare. "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to attack you.," he apologized, sheepishly. All signs of aggression on his body were gone now, even the red in his eyes, from that Sonic wasn't so sure, if it had really been there in the first place.

"You've got some nerve to come to my home and try something like that!," Knuckles growled, but made no move to attack, as long as the children were still close. He knew, that Tails would recognize an attack immediately and bring himself to safety, but Cream and Cheese were another story. If there was a small risk of hurting the little ones, Knuckles would hold back for as long as possible.

Knuckles, Sonic realized, and Silver, who had been also a prisoner of the Island, had never met each other personally before, so it wasn't such a surprise, that the situation had escalated.

The red furred guardian had retreated back on his island, after they had all been rescued, and only from time to time checked up on them, including the time Silver had needed to get well again.

He had never gotten close to the silver furred hedgehog and Sonic wasn't so sure, if Knuckles could recognize him, after all, he had only seen his unconscious and sick self about two years ago on Angel Island, during their rescue. Well, his five long head quills sprouting out of his forehead were actually quite unique and recognizable...

Silver had grown quite a bit, the hero noticed, he was now tall enough to be on Sonic's eye level – thanks to his head quills, he was even taller than him. His fur had a healthy shine of pure silver and his slim body showed no signs of starvation anymore. He had also gotten a slightly broader back, although his body still looked rather feminine – which was apparently normal for ukes like them. He wore black and green high boots and white gloves, that had turquoise circles on his palms. Broad golden rings were around the top of his boots and around his wrists.

"I'm sorry, I really am! I thought, that you would attack Cream!," Silver continued to defend himself. "Why should I attack Cream? She and Tails are always welcome here. I wanted to teach YOU a lesson for trespassing my island!," Knuckles raged. So... Knux had attacked first, not asking questions. Huh, the blue hedgehog felt a déjà-vu at thinking that...

Silver sighed, a relieved expression on his face. "That's good. I mean, that you would never attack Cream, it wouldn't be so good to attack me, because one scratch on me, and Mephy will have a fit, and I would never forgive myself, if he hurt someone and-" He let the rest of the sentence fall, blushing, because of his rambling. "Sorry.," he repeated.

"Silver!," Sonic said loudly, drawing attention to him. "Sonic!," the bunny girl called happily, waved and seemed ready to run to him, but Silver held her back by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Give us a sec, okay?," he asked.

Cream was confused, along with Tails behind her, but she nodded, stepping to the side to let him go past her, holding Cheese in her arm, who had also intended to fly to his blue friend.

Slowly, the younger uke came closer to the hero, his eyes wandering over him, as if searching for something. After just a few steps, he stopped again. "Hey.," he greeted, insecurely. "Hey.," Sonic replied, as friendly as he could in his confusion. What was going on here?

"It's nice...to see you again." Silver seemed unsure of how to say whatever he wanted to, that's why he started with something easy.

"I see it like you. What brings you here?," the hero asked, to hopefully speed the conversation up to the interesting part.

Silver fidgeted. "I...well...how are you?," he finally asked. Sonic frowned. "Did you come all the way up here to ask me_ that_?," he asked back, trying to wrap his head around this strange behavior. He hadn't seen Silver since a little over a year – and he had traveled for who knew how long, just to ask him a question, that he could have simply written in a letter or asked during a phone call?

"Well...yes. I mean, I tried it at your home, Cream showed me the way, I hadn't known, that you had moved and your brother had told us, that you were here and even came with us, to make sure, that we would find the way and...y-yes.," the silver male stammered the last part, turning bright red, since he was rambling again.

"But why?," Sonic asked. Silver took a deep breath as if to calm himself, before looking into his friend's eyes with unnatural seriousness. "Tell me. Be honest. You're not well, right?," he asked, sounding, as if he already knew the answer, although it wasn't that obvious, yet. Sonic looked a little thinner and his fur not as shiny, but it was a marginal difference to what the silver uke had seen last of the hero.

Tails behind Silver jerked involuntarily upon his words. Of course, he knew, that his brother was in a bad condition, but he had apparently never told Silver, so he was surprised.

Cream, instead, narrowed her eyes, looking at Sonic more closely, trying to find out, what he meant.

"It's nothing serious, I'm just a little under the weather.," Sonic replied, still frowning. Had Silver just held back Cream, because he had feared, that he would infect her with whatever he presumed he was suffering from?

Silver was looking at him again. "You're having fevers, right?," he asked, and, when he was met with speechless silence, he continued, "And you don't eat your favorite food anymore, you vomit often, your head hurts, you don't want anyone close to you and you can't sleep without nightmares, correct?," he listed Sonic's ailments, as if he had just heard them and repeated them to test his memory.

"How...do you know that?," the hero asked, barely able to get his jaw to close. "Yeah, I would love to hear that, too.," Shadow growled, warping in front of a terrified Silver, who backed away tremblingly.

It had taken a lot of courage from the shy and insecure hedgehog to come here and speak with them, Sonic realized, and was in an instant between seme and uke. "Leave him alone!," he growled at Shadow, until the agent backed off, before he turned around to the young hedgehog.

"Silver, how do you know all this?," he asked calmly, trying to soothe the younger one's fear with words alone.

The male sighed and crouched low, hugging his knees. He looked suddenly like a lost child. Sonic got on his knees opposite of him, to be closer to his eye level.

"I dreamed it.," Silver mumbled. "WHAT!?," Knuckles and Shadow exclaimed loudly, making him flinch.

Sonic gave them a glare over his shoulder, before he turned back to Silver. "What do you mean by that?," he asked.

"Since a while now, I often dream of things...I shouldn't know. I dream of problems or good things my friends have. I see parts of their past, and sometimes of their future. I saved the life of one of my friends, because I had dreamed the night before of what would happen. And since about two weeks, I dream solely of you."

He looked in his eyes. "I saw you suffering from all this. And...," he bit his lip for a moment, "...and I saw it getting worse."

Shadow, Tails and Knuckles flinched a little, while Cream looked worried now. "When I saw you writhing in pure pain in my dream today morning, I just couldn't take it anymore."

He looked at Sonic, his eyes now starting to fill with tears. "Mephiles said, that I should use this ability, but...but I don't know, if I can help you."

Silver was scared, it was obvious. Whatever he had dreamed of, it had had to be gruesome for him to come here and...well, Sonic basically still didn't know, why he was here. So he had seen him getting worse – that didn't have to be his future.

"Silver, why did you come here?," he asked gently, his instincts resisting harshly the urge to hug the silently crying younger to comfort him.

"I...I...wanted to bring you to my home. To the Uke Shelter. There are doctors, who know, how to treat ukes.," Silver explained, rubbing his eyes.

Sonic could feel his brow twitching and he was sure, that Shadow and Knuckles were both very tempted to attack the young uke. He lifted his gaze a bit and saw Tails over Silver's shoulder, biting his lip and his tails wrapping around him, trying to hide himself behind them. This whole scenario – 'Go there to get help' – was too close to the past.

"Wait a second. Don't you live with Mephiles?," Sonic asked, while still trying to digest Silver's suggestion and to hopefully distract Knuckles and Shadow for the time being. The young male couldn't know, how much he had upset the four friends.

Silver blushed and looked down, starting to fiddle with his fingers. "Er...well, yes, but...not in his house...anymore.," he stammered nervously. "Why not?" "I... kind of destroyed it?," Silver more asked, than answered.

The three males opposite of him looked at him incredulously. Silver turned even redder. "I didn't have full control over my powers and he left me alone for a few minutes and the house was so scary... Well, I let it levitate, but it was so heavy, that I let it fall...with me in it.," he explained.

"Did you get hurt!?," Sonic asked immediately, feeling his old protective instincts towards the younger resurface.

"I fell on a sofa and another one fell with its cushions first on me, it protected me from most. I had just bruises, a few cuts and a small concussion. I just had to stay in hospital for a day. Mephiles was so happy, that I was fine.," Silver smiled, most likely at the memory of his relieved seme, standing next to him and telling him exactly that.

"Wasn't he angry, that his house got destroyed?," Shadow asked. He knew of the villain's temper, it was hard to imagine, that he had no problem with losing his whole house to a clumsy mistake.

Silver shook his head. "No. He said, that nothing in the house would be worth more, than me." He blushed again a little.

Sonic smiled. He had had a rather bad feeling at first, when he had seen the two together, but like with Silver's sister Blaze before, Mephiles had also proven the hero, that he was the right mate for Silver. Sentences like these only underlined this fact.

"So, how did you land in this...er...?" "Oh, you mean the Uke Shelter?," Silver caught, what Sonic had tried to ask. The blue one nodded. "Well, we looked for a place to stay and when Mephiles heard of this place, he wanted to check it out. He said, that the mean man from the Island might be behind it."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. Mephiles of all people should know, that Perringten was dead... And he was very sure, that GUN would have found all of his secret hideouts, if there had been any.

"We went there and I was so scared at first, but I didn't have to. There are so many nice people! Mephiles even works there now. He's training with semes...or something like that." Silver frowned in thought. "I don't really know. He never allows me at his working place, so I have no idea." He shrugged.

"Anyway, the doctors there are great, I'm sure...I...I hope at least, that they can help you." Nervously, he rubbed his arm. "I know...that is, I can guess..., that you don't like doctors. I feel the same. I was so scared, when I fell ill last year and had to go there..." His ears pressed to his skull and he looked down for a moment, before lifting his head again, smiling. "But I was wrong, they were nothing, but friendly to me. I want you to try it, too. Please?," he pleaded.

Sonic said nothing, he only looked at Silver thoroughly. The younger male was absolutely sincere, he could feel it, he was truly trying to help.

"Silver says the truth!," Cream piped up suddenly, letting everyone turn to her. "In the Uke Shelter are many nice people. My mother works there, too!"

"Really? Since when?," Sonic asked. Lately, he hadn't seen Cream as regularly as usual, but simply assumed, that she had found new friends, or was distancing herself to find her own interests. She was still growing, after all, and although she could fight (to some extent), he had never seen her as a grown up warrior. That her mother had a job now, where she was visiting her often, had never crossed his mind as an explanation.

"Um...about a year, I guess. Mommy is a cook and sometimes a nurse there, three days a week. I'm often there, too, to play with the children, animals or chaos.," the girl explained. "And everyone loves Vanilla's carrot cake.," Silver grinned.

Sonic's mouth twitched to a small smile. Well, he knew that. Vanilla often rewarded the friends with her delicious cake, especially, when they had kept Cream safe or rescued her. The little girl was sometimes a trouble magnet, but usually unintentionally.

He raced past Silver, who flinched because of the air wave, that got created that way and that pushed him a little to the side, and stopped a little away from Cream, who was too used to Sonic's running to get scared. "Say, Cream, why didn't you tell me, that you go there?," he asked, coming down to her eye level. The girl wasn't very secretive, she usually told him – or someone of his friends, who would tell him eventually – everything going on in her life.

"I wanted to, I mean, you are an uke, too, so I thought, that you would like it there.," she started.

When Eggman had outed him as an uke, Vanilla had explained the fact to her daughter. He didn't know, what she had said, but Cream didn't see or treat him any different and he was grateful for that.

"Then...why didn't you?," the hedgehog gently pried. "Mephiles asked me not to. He said, that Silver should do that.," Cream answered. "M-me? Why?," Silver wondered, this was obviously new to him.

Sonic, however, could guess, what the dark seme had had in mind. If Cream would have been the first one to tell him about the Shelter, he would have kept away from it and tried everything to get her and her mother out of it, too. He would have assumed, that it was like the fake institute, that the two couldn't know, what danger they had gotten into, as the details of the Island were for them unknown also.

But Silver had been through the same, as him (mostly, thankfully not everything). He knew of his doubts and fears, as they were his own and knew, what to tell him to let him give this place a true chance. Maybe...it was worth a try.

Noticing, that Tails, Shadow and Knuckles were still tense, he straightened. "Hey, Silver, mind giving us a minute?," he smiled. "Sure. Can I look closer at the big gem?" The uke stood up and pointed to the Master Emerald.

Knuckles gritted his teeth, but answered, "Just...don't touch it." "Okay, thank you!," the young uke replied happily and ran up the stairs of the temple, which left Knuckles so tense, that Shadow – who only helped, because Sonic was still avoiding bodily contact – and Tails had to drag him away.

* * *

The group of four went to a small clearing, not too far away from the temple. "What should we do?," Tails asked silently, looking to Sonic. He was deep in thought, too, he saw that.

"Friend of yours or not, I don't trust this guy.," Knuckles declared. "I hate to do it, but I agree with the echidna. Silver may be your friend, but he could be used. You know, how gullible he is.," Shadow agreed.

"Silver only means well, I know that. He wouldn't trick me. The same goes for Cream.," Sonic stated matter-of-factually. For some reason, there wasn't the slightest doubt in his heart, that they had spoken the truth.

He always believed his friends, but usually, there was a small amount of doubt left, just to be sure, that dissipated instantly after confirming the story/statement. But not now.

"Still-" "Do you want him to get worse!?," Tails screamed suddenly, interrupting Knuckles, who looked at him, shocked.

Sonic frowned in worry. He knew, that this whole situation was stressing his young brother out, maybe more, than Shadow. He hated, that his instincts still didn't let him close enough to comfort him.

By now, Tails was crying, and it was clawing at his heart. "You heard Silver, he said, that Sonic would get worse! What if he dies, huh!?," Tails sobbed loudly.

Sonic looked at him, racking his brain for a way to tell him, that he wouldn't die. His current condition wasn't exactly a convincing argument.

Shadow looked to the side. Sonic couldn't die. He was, like him, immortal. Back on the Island, Sonic had once been close to death and, not ready to let him go, Shadow had shared his blood and immortality with him. Sonic had been too weak and the surroundings too insecure for him to tell him about that back then – and until now, the blue one was still unaware of this gift (or curse, however he would see it).

Shadow hadn't supposedly kept it a secret. He had tried to tell him, right after telling him about his own immortality, but Sonic's reaction hadn't exactly been...positive. And he had lost the courage to continue. But when was a better time to do this? So far, he hadn't found it.

"Of course I don't want him to die.," Shadow heard Knuckles soothing Tails, which ripped him out of his thoughts and let him focus on the present. "I'm just saying, that we need to be careful."

"By not going, or what are you implying?," Tails growled. It was rare, that he got actually mad at someone – and even rarer to pick a fight, with Knuckles of all people.

They were all about to lose their heads here, but for some reason, Sonic had suddenly the feeling, that he could think straighter than ever, now, that the situation threatened to escalate.

"Guys, I know, what we'll do.," he declared and turned around to march back towards the temple, followed by the others.

* * *

Silver was amusing himself with making faces in front of the Master Emerald, laughing at his mirror image, that got distorted by the uneven surface of the gem.

Cream sat on the stairs of the temple, Cheese on her lap, tickling him with a finger and giggling with him.

"Silver!" All three looked up upon hearing Sonic's call. "Yes?" Using his powers, Silver lifted himself up and landed in front of Sonic.

"Can you tell me, who is responsible for this Uke Shelter?," Sonic asked, having the feeling, that this question was the key.

"Hm..." Silver frowned, thinking hard. "I don't know." Before Knuckles and/or Shadow could rage, how that was even possible, he already continued, still in thought. "I mean, John built this place and gets all the food and medication and so on, but Kylie is the director, so I'm not sure, who the responsible one is. Or maybe...they both are...? Hm...or is it just John...?"

In the middle of Silver's musings, Sonic could feel the tension around him beginning to deflate and grinned. Those two names were truly magical words, they put everyone's worries to rest instantly.

John Perringten was Jester's son. He had at first followed his father blindly, before he had started to think for himself and quickly rebelled afterwards. He was actually one of the heroes, who had ended the Island's terror for good.

Kylie Ellen had been against Perringten's doings the whole time, but had been forced to work for him, as he had threatened her family. She had done everything in her power to protect and free the mobians, even risked her life and her family's several times.

They hadn't seen those two humans since their rescue from the Island, when they had gone to jail for their crimes and had been set free three months later.

Since their freeing from jail, Tails had wanted to visit Kylie, who had become a mother figure for him, but Sonic had asked him for patience – she hadn't seen her children and husband in three long years, she needed for sure some time with them alone. Seemed, as if they would meet again now.

"Silver.," Sonic gently interrupted Silver's continuing loud thoughts and the younger male immediately shut up, looking at him. "Would you bring us to this Uke Shelter? We would like to check it out."

"Sure! Oh, wait, I have just the thing for that!" He clapped his hands once, and a small violet glowing ball appeared between his palms.

"What's that?," Sonic asked, watching the small thing, that seemed to pulsate like a little heart. "A spell, from Mephiles. It can transport me and everyone close to me to Mephy. Great, huh?"

"A spell? That's just Chaos Energy, compressed.," Knuckles muttered, eyeing the ball. Its energy was bordering to being negative.

"Yeah, Mephy said something like that. 'Spell' just sounds cooler.," Silver shrugged, before he grinned. "Alright, here we go!"

He held the ball up on his right palm and it shone, bathing everyone in its shine, taking them with them. ...Well, not all of them.


	3. 2: Arrival

**2: Arrival**

When they reappeared, they stood in front of a pair of big, opened gates with a wooden sign next to the entrance, on that stood written _Visitors this way_.

Before the friends could look around more, a hedgehog, that looked like Shadow's twin, even in clothing, but with pale blue instead of red in his fur, pretty much jumped on Silver.

"Silver, are you alright!?," Mephiles asked, his voice trembling, as if he was close to a panic attack.

Silver cocked his head to the side. "Of course I am. Why do you ask?," he replied, confused.

"You used the transportation spell I gave you.," Mephiles said, slowly relaxing, after seeing his love unharmed and looking at the others and deeming them a harmless company for his mate.

"So? You gave me thousands of those, I thought, that I should use them." "Yes, for _emergencies_, Silver.," Mephiles chastised, his voice harder now, but not much.

Immediately, the young uke folded his ears back. "I'm sorry.," he whimpered, tears gathering in his eyes.

Mephiles looked startled at the sudden change, before he sighed and took his mate in his arms. "No, I'm sorry. It's just, that I gave you those spells for emergencies. I felt you using one and thought, that you were in danger, injured even. I was worried and got a little mad. For that I apologize. Can you forgive me, Silvy?"

Silver giggled lightly at the name, that his mate didn't use often, and let himself out of Mephiles' arms to look up to him. "Of course!," he smiled.

The dark seme looked with love at his uke. "That's good." He gently kissed his forehead. "I need to go now. Have fun with your friends." He nodded shortly at the others, before he disappeared.

"Silver? Is...everything okay?," Sonic asked carefully, not sure, if he was really not upset anymore and had forgiven Mephiles.

The silver male looked at them with an embarrassed smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I had totally forgotten, that it was for emergencies only. I wonder, what Mephy was doing here, at the entrance, though..."

"He probably didn't want you to appear among the semes he was with.," a new voice said out of nowhere and the friends looked around, but couldn't spot anyone – until they looked up, to see

...an angel?

It took Sonic the time of a heartbeat to realize, that it wasn't an angel, but a male winged hedgehog. Two white feathery wings, both longer than his purple furred body, sprouted out of his back, fluttering silently, while he descended down to them, in front of Silver. He wore simple brown leather sandals and fingerless black gloves. He also wore a necklace out of a string with feathers – brown ones, so hopefully not his own – tied loosely to it around his neck.

He crossed his arms, once he had landed. His wings folded themselves and got somehow pulled into his back, his quills popping out, where the wings had been before. His brown eyes looked at Silver, as if wanting to kill him with looks alone. "Silver. Where. Is. Cream!?," he hissed.

Sonic flinched, not only upon the icy tone, but also upon realizing, that the bunny girl and her chao weren't there indeed.

Silver looked around, noticing it now, too. "Oops. I guess, she wasn't close enough, she's probably still on Angel Island.," he explained sheepishly.

Well, at least she hadn't gone missing somewhere on the way. She was good in orienting and she could fly, so she would find her way back easily.

The purple hedgehog either didn't know that, or he just didn't care. "You did WHAT!? How could you be so irresponsible!? I trusted you with her! She is just a child!," he shouted at the cowering silver uke. "I-I..."

"Enough!" Sonic brought himself between Silver and the unknown hedgehog. "Leave him alone already! Cream is fine on her own – and I should know that, I know her far longer than you and Silver! She is not a helpless child, she can take care of herself!," Sonic told him strictly.

The hedgehog stared at him silently for a while, before he tsked. "Nice to know, how much the great hero cares for the _young_.," he finally hissed, his wings shooting out of his back again, fluttering once, creating a small gust of wind.

"Say that again!," Shadow growled, taking a step towards him, but a turquoise aura, that was suddenly around him, stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Charly, it won't happen again, I swear.," Silver apologized guiltily, while still holding Shadow in place. "I hope it.," Charly growled and lifted up, flying away.

Once he was gone, which happened pretty quickly, Shadow was released immediately – and he was just a blink later in Silver's face. "What did you think you were doing, huh!?," he snarled, while Silver backed off. "S-sorry...," he stammered. "Shadow, leave him-," Sonic started, but was unexpectedly interrupted.

Black tentacles shot out of the agent's shadow, grabbed the seme and threw him backwards, almost knocking Knuckles over, too, but he could just in time jump out of the way.

Shadow caught himself after a few meters, landing on his feet and glaring at Mephiles, who stood between him and Silver and was glaring back just as hateful.

"Leave Silver alone!," he snarled. "**I **should leave him alone!? What about this other hedgehog, who was harassing both of our mates!?," Shadow hissed back.

Mephiles turned to Silver. "What hedgehog? Did you cut off the connection because of that?," he asked sharply.

Silver nodded nervously. "B-but it was Charly. He was angry, because I accidentally left Cream on Angel Island.," he defended himself.

Mephiles exhaled deeply, calming down. "I know, that you pity him, but that doesn't give him ANY right to talk ill with you, Sonic or anyone else. And I trust you to call me next time, when you're needing help, before the situation escalates, okay?," he told him.

"But...you said, that you would kill everyone, who makes me cry!," Silver replied, his bottom lip trembling. "Oh, Silvy." Mephiles hugged him. "I said I _could_ kill those, who try to hurt you – physically. And I meant semes with that, I hardly see ukes or females as a threat to your well-being. If they try to hurt you with words, though, I would fire with my own words back." "B-but you wouldn't be mean, right?," Silver asked, insecurely, muffled by his mate's chestfur.

Mephiles chuckled. He could curse worse than a sailor and invoke the feelings of dread, fear and panic in every soul with nothing but words, but Silver didn't need to know that. He would hold back anyway, he didn't want his love to be as feared by everyone as him. "Of course I won't, dear. I think, my presence will be enough for effect anyway."

Silver looked up to him and frowned, obviously not understanding this part. Well, Mephiles wasn't charming, unless it was towards Silver, so how should he know?

Mephiles looked up and to Shadow. "I apologize for my behavior.," he said calmly, startling the hedgehog a great bit – Mephiles wasn't exactly someone, from whom you expected apologies. "Er...no problem.," Shadow replied, surprised.

"What did you mean, when you said, that Silver was pitying this Charly? For what?," Sonic asked. By all means, the hedgehog hadn't looked, as if he was someone to pity.

Mephiles rubbed Silver's back for comfort, while he answered, "Silver realized through him, how lucky he is. And you should be aware of that, too.," he added, looking at Sonic, who raised a brow in confusion.

"You obviously never thought about it, but your friends could have reacted far different to the news of you being an uke. Like Charly's family did, for example. When his parents found out about their son being an uke, his father beat him up, broke his wings in several places and chased him out of the house – in the middle of a snowstorm. He almost didn't survive, it was pure luck, that he was found and brought here, before the cold finished him off."

Silver was by now silently sobbing for the purple hedgehog. "The worst part is, that he has younger siblings, that he is forbidden to see ever again. He has started to see the children living and coming here as his siblings and is naturally very protective over them. Silver knows this, that's why he puts up with his rage.," Mephiles explained.

His voice was void of any emotion, while he told the winged hedgehog's story. It was clear to Shadow, that he wouldn't care, if it weren't for Silver. Interesting, how much the young, naive thing was influencing the dark being.

Sonic just stared at Mephiles. He was wrong. He was very well aware, that it wasn't natural at all for his friends to stay loyal to him.

He could have, after Eggman's outing, returned to a less than understanding Tails, to an Amy, who would have cut off all contacts (although she could be very difficult at times, Sonic liked her like a younger sister), to a Knuckles, who saw him as nothing but a weakling, or to have the disappointed Freedom Fighters at his hands.

But no, instead, his friends had barely changed their behavior (if anything, only because he now had Shadow, which was still a little strange for everyone – he just hadn't been the relationship-type in their opinions). They hadn't thought once about leaving him.

Even when he had become difficult, thanks to Eggman and Perringten, they had tried everything to get him back to normal and only after trying everything possible and when Tails had actually gotten in mortal danger, they had finally turned to the fake uke institute for help. But only then.

Before, they had believed in him and he knew, that it wasn't possible to find the words to properly thank them. Their loyalty to him and their unconditional friendship were more, than he could ever wish for.

He knew, too, that it was usually different. Nowadays, you couldn't do as much as switch on the TV, leaf through a newspaper or magazine, or just be in a place with more than two more persons in it without the general topic sooner or later switching to ukes.

It was quite cruel, he had to say, how there were mobians and humans, who announced in less-than-serious shows or magazines, that all ukes should be terminated for being different. Some even brought up pseudo-scientific evidences for their less than logic theories, that let Tails bristle in anger, whenever he stumbled across a new article with those.

The more serious people suggested to separate male hedgehogs into ukes and semes to try and find out, what differs them and to decide then, what should be done. Thankfully, there were enough people protesting against this violation of mobian rights.

It was definitely going on his nerves by now, that he couldn't go out in public without being stormed with questions for his opinion about this matter, being an uke and so on and so on...

His opinion? Stop making a drama out of this and live on! Ukes existed, that was a fact, easy as that. He didn't know, why everyone was going crazy about it, it wasn't, as if they had suddenly popped into existence.

He wondered though, how it came, that ukes were suddenly such a sensation. Tails had tried to find out, why nobody had known about them before this radio report and the Island-incident, which had started this whole discussion in the first place, but hadn't have any success so far.

The blue hero could imagine, that all of those theories and aggressive opinions were creating distrust and fear of ukes. He had lost many fans to being an uke and wasn't surprised, that others suffered from similar, or even worse, problems.

"How did his family find out, that he is an uke? It isn't that obvious, is it?," Tails asked carefully, trying to remember the hedgehog's appearance.

"If you look close enough, you notice, that he is smaller and has a less broad back, than semes. But most people only see this, if they compare a seme and an uke directly. Charly found out, because he let his blood test here. He kept the sheet of paper with the result not well enough hidden, his parents found it."

"Why would they offer this test here?," Knuckles wondered. "Easy, unlike semes and females, ukes can't know, if they are ukes or not. If they start to get interested in another male, it would be only fair to know before, if they could become pregnant. Therefore, they offer to test this for free here. Of course, there is always the possible problem of family and friends reacting badly to the news, if you're an uke, but at least it is clear then." Mephiles shrugged.

The friends knew of course, that there was a chemical substance, that colored the blood of semes and ukes differently – this way, Eggman had outed Sonic before.

Silver had finally calmed down and straightened, separating himself from Mephiles and wiping his eyes. "Better?," the seme asked nonetheless.

Silver nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry, for cutting the connection. I just didn't want you to hurt Charly.," he apologized, sheepishly.

"No need for that, you know, that I love your big heart.," the seme replied, chuckling upon the blush his words caused on his mate's cheeks. He gently took the younger one's face in his hands. "I need to go now. Will you be okay on your own?," he asked.

Silver grinned so broadly, that it actually moved Mephiles' hands on his cheeks. "Sure!" "Alright then." With a quick kiss to his uke's forehead, the dark seme disappeared once more.

Silver turned to the friends. "I'm sorry, for stopping you before.," he apologized to Shadow. "It's alright. I guess, that you had...a good reason." Shadow was still a little miffed, that Silver had stopped him this easily, but Sonic wouldn't appreciate it, if he grounded the young uke, that's why he rather forgave him right away.

"Well, welcome to my home, then...," Silver started shyly, gesturing to the gate, to that the friends turned upon his words.

Behind the iron gates, that were kept wide open by metal hooks connected with the brick wall going around the place, was a simple path out of marched down dirt, that disappeared behind a bunch of trees halfway up the hill the way climbed up.

Far behind this, behind more trees, there were some roof tops visible, belonging to one building, it seemed, that was apparently a complex out of several ones, that got connected somehow.

"This are strange rules.," Tails commented suddenly, drawing Sonic's attention to a larger sign than the one he had seen first and he asked himself, just how he had overseen it – it was large, red and had white letters after all, it was meant to be eye-catching. The rules were strange indeed, he noticed, while he read over the writing.

_Dear visitors,_

_please follow these rules during your visit always:_

_Stay on the path, don't try to stray away from it (Some of the semes build traps along it)._

_Should you encounter an animal on the way, don't be alarmed or try to move off the path. Our security does frequent rounds and will help you in a time span of 30 minutes. Please DON'T approach predators._

_Please stay away from hedgehogs, who wear:_

_\- a red piece of clothing (bandanna, scarf, shirt, bow tie)_

_\- a blue piece of clothing (belt, hat, jacket, pants)_

_Don't move in the parts of the building or the landscape, that are strictly forbidden for visitors._

_Don't get close to, try to interact with or look at the collared mobians._

_Thank you and have a nice day!_

"What's that rule with the collared mobians?," Shadow asked, frowning deeply. Silver stared at the sign, frowning, too.

Sonic just wanted to read it to him out loud, remembering, that the younger uke couldn't read, when the silver male beat him to it. "That fifth rule is new. I don't understand it myself, but I have seen a few mobians with collars. They seem... scared, I guess. Mephy told me to just leave them be. I can become friends with them later.," Silver answered and shrugged, as clueless as them.

"You learned to read?," Sonic asked and Silver beamed. "Uhuh. Mephy taught me, and he taught Blaze, too. Here's a school and I go in it four days a week, today's my day off. I'm the best in all of my classes, by the way."

"That's great!," Sonic praised. He would have loved to clap a hand on his shoulder, as he usually did to praise someone, but his instincts still rebelled against it.

Silver blushed again, he obviously didn't handle compliments well. "E-er...l-let's go...," he just stammered and moved forward, passing the gates. The others followed him.

"Why should the semes install traps anyway?," Sonic wondered aloud, while looking around and discovering quickly the places left and right of the way, where the grass had been apparently dug out and put over a hidden trap again.

"Mephy said, that some of the semes need to do this, because of their instincts. He told me, that semes try to prove with traps or caught animals, that they could provide a family.," Silver repeated something he had learned from his mate.

"Did Mephiles ever try that?," Sonic asked, trying to imagine Shadow doing this for him. Silver giggled. "I asked Mephy, actually, if he would ever do that and he said, that it is to convince an uke or a female to accept the seme as a mate. As I already love Mephy, he would never do that. He also said, that not all semes do that...I just didn't understand, why." Silver frowned, but then shrugged again. He had his mate, other semes weren't interesting for him.

Sonic let his eyes still swipe over the darker patches of grass, before he noticed a hole, not too far away from the path they were on. Apparently a trap, that someone had stepped on.

He stopped without noticing it, when he heard small noises of strain coming out of the hole, that grew slightly louder, until a dirty glove came out of it, grabbing the edge, followed by a head with pink quills and fur.

Sonic's jaw dropped, while he watched, how no one else but Amy Rose climbed out of the hole, huffing and dirtied with dust. "Amy?," he asked, not really believing his eyes now. What was she doing here?

The hedgette's ears perked and she looked up abruptly. Her dark green eyes started to sparkle. "Sonic, you came to save me!," she cheered, jumping up and running to him, ignoring the two holes opening up under her feet on the way, just stomping over the crumbling ground, to jump at Sonic...or rather in his direction.

Feeling, that she was colliding with a warm body, Amy clung to it in a death grip. "Oh Sonic, I knew, that you would come for me!," she cooed.

The pinkette was really a phenomenon – usually, she could free herself out of everything she had gotten (herself) into, but if Sonic was close, she expected a rescue from him... to fight her way out alone, if he couldn't spare time for her. She usually turned the story of her rescue in a way, that Sonic appeared as the hero still, though.

Even now, after she had pulled herself out of the hole, she chalked it up to Sonic... however she thought he was responsible for saving her now.

Amy knew of course, that Sonic was with Shadow and, being an uke, he wasn't interested in females.

For some reason, though – and he would LOVE to hear, who had put this idea in her little head – she was convinced since a while now, that 'True love would overcome all obstacles'. And in her opinion, Shadow was the obstacle between her and Sonic, as well as him being an uke.

Thankfully, she hadn't tried anything drastic, yet, but he knew, that it was only a matter of time. She only needed a plan, or an opportunity. Whatever came first.

The fact, that he was distancing himself from Shadow, was cheering her on in her idea of Sonic being her soulmate, although he kept away from her, too.

"E-er...could you let go of me, please?," Silver asked shyly. Sonic had quickly ran a good bit away from the girl, just before she could jump on him and she had instead found Silver, clinging to him.

"Huh!?" Amy let so quickly go, that Silver almost fell to the ground. The girl looked around and discovered Sonic a few meters away from her. "Sonic!," she said in a reprimanding tone, as if scolding him for not letting her squeeze him to death.

"Amy, what are you doing here?," Tails asked. The pinkette turned to him, put her fists to her hips and raised her nose. "I'm here to help Sonic, of course.," she declared proudly.

"But how do you know of this place?," the fox wondered. "Cream told me about it." "And you came here on your own, although it could be dangerous?," Knuckles asked incredulously. Amy blushed. "Er..."

"She wanted to help Sonic, all alone. To show him, how strong she is.," Silver smiled, but cowered a little in the next second, when he felt all eyes on him. "Hey, how do you know that? Do you spy on me, or what!?," Amy asked sharply, invading the silver male's personal space so much, that their noses touched.

"If you value your life, you will back off NOW!" The cold voice let Amy jump back and she whirled around to see a rather pissed Mephiles standing behind her like a menacing shadow.

"Listen, girl – and listen good: I allow NOBODY to talk like that to _my_ Silver. Try it once more and you will regret it. Did I make myself clear?," he snarled.

Amy nodded quickly and Mephiles moved past her, his glare softening immediately, while he approached Silver.

"It happened again, right?," he asked gently. Silver, who had shrunken into himself and his ears pressed to his skull, nodded with a whimper.

Mephiles sighed and hugged his mate. "It's alright, love. You're just a little less focused today, that's all.," he soothed. "I don't like it.," Silver mumbled in his mate's chestfur. "I know. Shall I stay with you today?"

Silver straightened, letting himself out of his arms. "But...aren't you too busy with work?," he asked.

"Oh, Silver." Mephiles gently lifted his chin a little higher. "Nothing in this whole world could be more important, than you. So, what do you say?"

The silver hedgehog blushed again, but, to everyone's surprise, he pushed his seme gently a bit back. "I-I want to try it alone."

His confident smile vanished almost immediately again. "I-is that okay?," he asked insecurely.

Mephiles chuckled and gently cradled his cheek in his palm. "Seeds don't ask, if it's okay for them to grow, they just do it – and you shouldn't feel the need to ask, too. I'm so very proud of you. Just promise me, that you'll call me, if you slip up again, okay?" Silver nodded and Mephiles, after kissing his uke's forehead, disappeared again.

The silver uke turned around to Amy. "I...I'm sorry for upsetting you – and for Mephiles upsetting you, too. I'm sure, he didn't mean it.," he explained.

"It's...okay, I guess. But seriously, how did you know, that I was going to say that?," Amy asked, now only curious.

"I dreamed of it, ages ago. Not all of my dreams, that show the future, fulfill themselves immediately, sometimes, they take longer. Usually, I recognize a situation, if I have seen it before in one of my dreams, but I don't say anything to not scare people. But sometimes, my mouth is faster than my head. Sorry about that." "I wasn't scared, though.," Amy said with a frown.

Silver smiled sadly. "People fear the future and even more they fear people, who know the future, even if it's just a little bit of it. And fear becomes rage or hatred. Mephiles taught me that.," he recited his mate.

"Well, I don't hate you. You just surprised me, that's all.," Amy explained. Silver grinned happily at her. "Okay. Come on, let's go. And please, stay on the path this time, okay? I know, that you don't trust this place, Sonic doesn't, too, but there are no traps on the path, just around it, you see?"

Amy raised a brow, apparently, Silver had guessed her reason for falling into the trap, flawlessly, but she decided not to comment on it and only nodded.

They went further, the path winding its way through several groups of trees. Birds sang between the leaves above them.

"How did Mephiles know, that you were in trouble? He did come twice now, although you didn't call him.," Shadow broke the silence, that had reigned for a few minutes. He would love to know, how Mephiles could be so easily there for Silver, while he himself failed every time – or at least, so it felt.

"I did call him...mentally, at least. Mephiles and I have a mind link. That's a mate-thing.," Silver explained.

"But...I thought that was- I...I mean, I didn't think, that something like this is possible!," Tails corrected quickly.

Of course, he meant something, that Bryan, the human, who had spoken with Tails and Knuckles, when they had for the first time visited the fake uke institution, had told him. Bryan had claimed, that uke and seme would have a mental connection, that would alert the seme, whenever the uke was in danger. Tails had figured, that it had been a lie to lure Sonic in his clutches, but now...

"It is possible, but only, if at least one of the mates has psychic powers, like me. I connected our minds." He giggled. "That felt, as if my brain was tickled. Since then, Mephiles and I can share our thoughts and feelings. If he feels, that I'm scared, he comes immediately. I can also shut the link off, if I want to, so he doesn't feel it, if my feelings get negative. I did that, when Charly came to us.," he explained.

"Is that difficult to learn? These psychic powers, I mean?," Amy asked interested and Sonic was getting a bad feeling about this.

Silver frowned in thought. "I don't think, that you can learn it. All of my psychic friends were born with their abilities, like I was, too."

"Oh." Amy's face fell. "Sorry.," Silver apologized, as if it was his fault. Amy shook her head. "Forget it. I guess, I'll just have to think of another way to get my love to love me, too."

"I'm sure, that you'll find a way.," Silver tried to cheer her up, oblivious to the fact, that Amy was meaning Sonic.

Suddenly, they heard a scream, that let them jump, coming from a forest to their left and, when they turned to it, they saw a group of five people running towards them.

It were five humans, three were having a camera in one hand and the other two notepads and it took no genius to guess, that they were journalists.

And it also wasn't difficult to see, why they were fleeing – behind them ran a giant wolf with dark gray fur.

Sonic was about to run and attack the beast, his hero-instincts kicking in effortlessly, but he suddenly couldn't move a single muscle.

A shocked second later, he noticed the turquoise aura keeping him in place. It was the first time – that he remembered –, that Silver used his powers on him. The energy was like a second, warm, but unmovable skin lying on his real one.

He turned his head a little, with some difficulty, to see Silver's hand outstretched towards him. "It's okay, she won't hurt them.," he explained, having apparently guessed, what had been on his mind.

Just then, the humans broke through the last layer of bushes separating them and the mobians, quickly turned towards the gates and raced down the path.

The wolf followed them, but, as Sonic realized now, far slower, than it could go. It was simply chasing, not hunting. It stopped shortly in front of the gates, although it could go through it easily.

Sonic, who was free again, felt his eyes widen, when the wolf turned into a tall, olive green furred hedgette in brown shorts and a green, tight fitting tank top. A giant scythe was on her back. He frowned. He knew this girl...

"Scythe!," Amy called, waving happily. The hedgette turned around and grinned. With quick steps, she came to them. "If it isn't Pinky.," she smirked, before she had arrived at their side.

Amy pouted. "Do you still have this stupid nickname for me?" "Hey, it suits you. What are you doing here anyway? Did you miss me?," the girl teased.

"Well, no, not really. I didn't even know, that you er..." Amy looked around a little helplessly. "I work and live here, in case you were wondering."

"And chasing humans is your job?," Knuckles asked with a raised brow. "Nope, chasing journalists is a hobby of mine. Those cockroaches sneak around here to try and find any evidence about ukes being pests, that need to get killed."

Her glare darkened. "It's disgusting, that's why I chase everyone away, who doesn't go the official way."

"There is an official way?," Tails asked, interested. "Of course there is. They try to change everyone's view on ukes by informing them – the truth just doesn't sell as good as some scandalous lies.," she growled, shaking her head, while everyone, except Silver, around her scowled, knowing, that it was true.

"Are you on your way to the Shelter?," Scythe changed the topic. "Yeah. Sonic needs a doctor.," Silver explained, before anyone could stop him.

Scythe's eyes slid over to the hero for a second, before she looked at Silver, smiling at him. "You're a good friend, Silver.," she just said, not adding anything. The silver male blushed. "Mind if I join you? I need to make my round anyway.," the girl continued. "Sure.," Silver agreed and they resumed walking.

"Aren't you a friend of Mighty?," Sonic asked, finally remembering her. Scythe grinned over her shoulder back at him. "Yeah, I am. Took you long enough.," she added with a smirk, but didn't dwell on it. She knew, that the blue hero hadn't been at his best, when they had met and she hadn't seen them, since Angel Island had reached dry land almost exactly two years ago.

"How are the others?," Amy asked, walking next to the taller female. "Depends, on who you are asking about. Mighty and Blush are fine.," Scythe shrugged.

"What about Shy?," Amy prodded, wondering, why Scythe was suddenly so closed inside herself. She didn't know her that good, but it seemed to be untypical for her still. "She's... let's say, she's going through rough patches, I won't say more about it."

"Why?," Amy asked. "She's my friend and it's her life, easy as that.," the girl replied coolly. The pinkette nodded in agreement, not asking further.

"By the way, Silver?," Scythe addressed the male, who walked a little behind her. "Yes?," the silver male asked, turning to her.

"Did Mephiles...ever say something to you...about Shy?," she asked slowly, as if she wasn't sure, how to ask that in the first place.

"About Shy?," the young uke repeated questioningly, frowning. "Hm...yeah, but only once. I heard, that Shy helped Sonic and I like Emma, so I wanted to be friends with her, too. When I told Mephy that, he asked me not to get close to them anymore."

"And you listened to him?," Scythe frowned. "I didn't want to at first, but then...Mephy practically begged me to listen to him. He never begged before, so I figured, that it is important. Why are you asking?," Silver asked.

"No reason, I was just curious. For a while, you and Emma were inseparable, and it seemed strange, that you suddenly avoided her – especially, since you had been like one soul the day before. It's just not like you to simply cut off contacts, so I thought, that Mephiles might have said something.," Scythe shrugged. Sonic had the feeling, that this wasn't all, but left it at that...for now. "Did he ever mention...why he didn't want you to be friends with them?," Scythe asked.

"Hm..." Silver frowned in concentration. "No, but...I sometimes...well, sometimes, I can hear Mephy's thoughts, even better than usual, because of our connection, you know? I try not to do it, but it just happens without me being able to stop it."

"So?," Scythe pried. "Well, I have the feeling, that...Mephy is afraid...of Emma." "Afraid. Of a child?," Scythe asked incredulously and Sonic couldn't help but wonder, if Silver had misunderstood something. Mephiles didn't seem like someone to develop fear at all. Silver blushed. "That's, why I rather not talk about it. I'm sure, that Mephy didn't mean that. I just don't know, _what_ he meant."

"Hey, look, over there!," Tails said suddenly, interrupting the talk and pointing ahead of them. Shadow followed the direction he indicated to and his jaw dropped.

Several meters in front of them stood a bulky robot, painted in black, red and yellow with its back to them. On his right shoulder sat a white bat, also with her back to them.

"This is ridiculous.," they heard the bat mutter, while they came closer. "Omega, just...I don't know, move it to the side, or something like that."

"Rouge, Omega!," Shadow called and the bat whipped around, while the robot slowly turned around, all of his movements rather heavy and showing, that he hadn't been built for speed.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?," the bat asked surprised. "I could ask you the same.," Shadow growled. Didn't she get, that this place could be dangerous, despite what Silver claimed!?

Rouge seemed to guess his thoughts. She slipped gracefully off Omega's shoulder and landed in front of him. "Relax, Shadow, we just wanted to gather some information for your...problem. And it's not, as if I went here alone, Omega's here for backup.," she told her partner calmly. The bat knew, that Shadow was very protective over her, that's why he always sent Omega with her, when they had to split up. The robot could either protect her, or call Shadow to come quickly...if he had his communicator with him, that is.

Sonic and Shadow both frowned at her words. Sonic, because he asked himself, if he was really becoming a problem and Shadow, because his mate had been called that.

"Rouge, my mate is NOT, nor will he EVER be a problem!," Shadow growled. "I never said he is. But his condition is bothering you all, so I did some research myself and lately found this place. I wonder, how I oversaw that before.," Rouge added thoughtfully.

"We had some problems with the internet, until last week. The servers got fried. Repeatedly.," Scythe grumbled, rolling her eyes. She still remembered the fires. The MANY fires.

"Why?," Tails asked curiously. "Don't ask me. I hate technology, don't want to hear about it at all. You should ask someone else.," Scythe shrugged. "Now, how about we go further?," she suggested.

"Sure, if you find a way past this thing.," Rouge replied and she and Omega turned to the side to reveal, what had stopped them from going further.

A big rhinoceros was standing on the way, blocking it, while calmly chewing on a bit of grass. Its ears twitched now and then, along with its tail.

"How does a rhinoceros come here of all places?," Amy wondered. "Some of the ukes made it their job to 'free all maltreated animals', which is why they steal them from zoos, any circus they find and so on. By now, this place here looks like a zoo without cages.," Scythe explained with a shake of her head.

"Besides being illegal – isn't that dangerous? A rhinoceros, okay, but what if it's a tiger?," Sonic asked, looking the animal in front of him up and down. Hadn't Cream said, that she played with the animals here? He had actually thought about cute little bunnies and birds – not something like that.

"No worries. Our animal-heroes can talk with all kinds of beasts and tame them – and we have wonderful lawyers, who get them out of trouble every time. Besides, all animals you may encounter here are tamed and belong to this place. John bought them, to end the drama, before it could escalate. Now,"

Scythe moved forward, leaned against and put her whole weight on the animal's shoulder. "Come on, big guy, move a little for me.," she encouraged and huffing, the beast slowly moved to stay along the way, not in a right angle to it, giving the way free, even enough for Omega.

"There, all done. But never try this yourself, the animals here know our scents.," Scythe explained, while they passed the calmly chewing rhinoceros.

"You are...a very interesting person.," Rouge remarked. Scythe rolled her eyes again. "I just pushed a rhinoceros out of the way, don't pretend, as if I saved your life, or anything.," she shrugged.

"Well, considering your past, I wouldn't imagine you being nice." Shadow noticed, that Rouge was practically interrogating the green furred hedgette, but she didn't even twitch upon her words.

"Is that so?," Scythe asked uncaringly. "I read your file." "I figured that much. Commy had always had a thing for me, I would bet, that it is quite a big one.," Scythe shrugged.

"I just wonder. Towers had been quite close to arresting you countless times, yet he never got you, including the time two years ago. How did you do this?"

Scythe chuckled. "Trying to learn from an expert? I'm afraid, there's nothing I can teach you." While she spoke, she turned into an exact copy of Rouge, including the clothes. "Whenever Commy came too close to me, I always changed into someone else. Of course, I never used the same face twice. Towers never came behind that trick." Still chuckling, she turned back to her old self.

Silver giggled. "I like it, when you do that!" Scythe grinned, turning and bowing in his direction. "I'm happy to please.," she mock-played a loyal servant.

"Can you turn into objects, too? Mephy can turn into other people, too, but not into objects.," Silver asked. He hadn't have many chances to speak with Scythe so far, it seemed.

"I can, but it is very difficult." "Why?" Silver's curiosity was sparked. "Shapeshifters have an absolute control over each and every body cell they have. If we want to change our appearance, we order every single one to bend to our will. To grow, to shrink, to change texture, whatever is necessary."

"Sounds complicated.," Silver stated with wide eyes. Scythe chuckled. "It does, but it isn't. Once you have the hang of it, it's as easy as walking."

"Hm..." Silver looked down to his legs, that were moving, while he walked, trying to understand her words. "Wow. And why is it more difficult to turn into an object?," Silver asked further.

"Easy, beings are out of living cells, like I am myself, but objects aren't. It is quite a piece of work to turn all your cells into non-living ones, to arrange them, as they aren't as easily formable as cells, to hold the form and to turn back. I'm doing that for absolute emergencies only.," Scythe explained, formulating it as easy as possible.

"Are you teaching this to the others, too?," Silver asked. "I rather don't. Transforming into objects isn't completely without risks and there's always the danger, that they'll never turn back. As inexperienced, as they are, I wouldn't try it."

"Who are you talking about?," Sonic asked. "I'm teaching some ukes, who can shapeshift also. I'm having some experience and can share it, it helps them to control this ability." "That's so nice of you!," Amy beamed.

"You pretend, as if I'm a terrible monster.," Scythe replied and laughed, when the hedgette flushed and tried to stammer apologies. "Relax, I'm just kidding. I know, that I don't seem to be a very nice person, but I don't want everyone to think the opposite, just certain people."

"We're your worthy ones then, right!?," Silver asked. Scythe grinned. "Yes, exactly." Silver beamed and jumped on her in a side-hug. "That means we're friends?," he cheered.

Scythe grinned fondly down on him. "Sure, if you want to." The silver uke nodded quickly. "Alright then. Can I walk alone now?" Scythe hadn't slowed down, when the hedgehog had jumped on her and she was still walking, carrying Silver with her.

"Oh, sure. Sorry, I just like to make new friends." Blushing hotly, Silver let her go, walking next to her now. "I know that, you make almost daily at least one new friend, it's practically your reputation." The young male giggled and nodded.

Scythe smiled back and looked ahead. "Alright, we need to separate over there.," she told him, pointing to something in front of her.


	4. 3: The stolen heart

**WARNING!**

Attention! This chapter contains two small paragraphs, that might be too gross and graphic for some people- They are marked like this paragraph. Please don't read them, if you are sensitive, thank you.

**END OF WARNING!**

* * *

**3: The stolen heart**

Sonic looked past her at hearing that and saw the forest ending, revealing a crossroad several meters behind it. A second way, just like theirs, led in a right angle past them and to the big building on their left.

Where the ways crossed, stood a small hut out of stone, that was open in the front and otherwise enclosed by brick walls.

Wouldn't it have been for the desk and chairs, that fit perfectly in the room, or the doors in all three walls, it would have looked like a very old bus station. Nobody was in the room right now, but on the flat wooden roof sat a very well known red, black and yellow armadillo, his legs dangling off the ledge, his head propped on his right hand, his elbow resting on his knee.

"Mighty!," Tails called excitedly, but the older male didn't react. He just stared into space, seemingly deep in thought. It was odd to see him this quiet.

They reached the hut, that was most likely there to house some kind of guard during rain, but Mighty was still not reacting to their presence. Scythe scowled up to him.

"I'll try waking him.," Tails declared and wanted to lift up, but Scythe stopped him. "Let me." She jumped up from where she had stood and landed easily on the roof, right next to Mighty, who was still oblivious to everything.

She slowly stretched out her hand, hesitated for a heartbeat, before making up her mind, reached him and tapped on his head.

The reaction was instant. Mighty whipped around and had hit Scythe, before he had really realized it. A sickening crack echoed through the following silence, while Scythe got thrown off the hut and landed behind it.

The sound of her body colliding with the ground seemed to wake them all up out of the stupor.

"Scythe!" Silver rushed to his friend's side, where Mighty landed shortly after, pale like a ghost, his blue eyes widened in pure shock. It had been ages, since he had hurt someone – and now, it had even been a friend of his! How could he do this!? How could he EVER look in her eyes again!? In those of his friends? He was a monster...!

"Scythe, Scythe, are you hurt!?", Silver asked, scared, while he knelt next to the still unmoving girl.

Scythe groaned and stirred. "Fine...," she growled, while pushing herself up with her left arm. Her right one was obviously broken, it hung uselessly and in an odd angle from her shoulder.

"Y-your arm!," Silver squeaked in shock, while Mighty turned rather green at the sight, his chest rising and falling rapidly, while he started to hyperventilate, fighting – and losing – to try and get his nerves back under control.

"No worries." Scythe had somehow managed to stand up again. She gritted her teeth, while her broken arm suddenly moved, as if something big crawled around in it, which looked rather creepy and had Amy and Tails back off behind Knuckles, who looked grossed out by the sight.

If Sonic, whose stomach was rumbling uncomfortably while seeing this, had to guess, then he would say, that she forced her bone cells back together with her ability as a shapeshifter.

The movement under her skin stopped after a good minute and she moved her arm in all directions to check the result.

"Perfect.," she grinned proudly. She turned to the silently crying Silver, who still knelt on the ground, and patted his head. "Don't worry so much, okay? Healing wounds like that is easy for me, it doesn't hurt anymore, either." Silver nodded, rubbing his eyes with his fists. "Good."

Swiftly, Scythe whipped around to Mighty, who avoided her glare, still breathing rather fast. "Scythe, I-," he started with a trembling voice, but interrupted himself, not sure, what he should say.

With two steps, the tall hedgette had crossed the space between them, pulled her newly healed arm back and buried her fist in his abdomen.

Coughing, both in shock, and because the hit took his breath away, the armadillo collapsed on his knees, holding his middle.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?," Scythe snarled, towering over him, while he recovered, gasping for air.

"If I hadn't strengthened my bones, I would be mush now! The fox wanted to wake you first – what would have happened to him, huh?" Mighty's breath hitched in shock and Tails', too. He hadn't thought about that...

Scythe crouched on his eye level. "I told you, didn't I? I told you, that if you keep doing this, you would lose your progress – and now, look at you."

"I know." Hissing slightly, Mighty stood up, still holding his abdomen. "You really punch like a girl.," he smirked weakly.

Scythe chuckled, while she stood up, too. "If you say so. Now, do you know a way against your demons, or not?"

"Yeah. I just need to see him once more, that's all.," Mighty explained, straightening. Both seemed to have forgotten, that they had an audience.

"Uhuh. Yeah, I so believe that. You will probably bash in his head and that's it. A less elegant way to solve your problems, though, I'm tempted, too – I just don't want to make the poor lawyers work more.," the hedgette mocked.

"I'm serious here, Scythe.," Mighty insisted. "Yeah, whatever." The tall hedgehog girl shrugged, she obviously had trouble with believing him.

Her right ear twitched and turned a little. "I have no idea, if I'm making it worse, but – he's coming. From south.," she explained, pointing through the hut, along the path, that would lead straight away from the building.

Mighty's glare darkened. "Be back in five.," he growled and ran past the friends, seemingly without noticing it, and down the path Scythe had shown him.

"What's wrong with Mighty?," Tails wondered, once he was out of eyesight. "I thought, that he was fine!," he added, almost accusingly in Scythe's direction.

"Last time I saw him, he was. But Mighty always had the annoying habit to make our problems to his. I should have known, that he would overdo it," the scythe fighter explained, rolling her eyes. Well, that explained, why they had been so cryptic before, she was still keeping Shy's problem a secret.

"Scythe...," Silver's thin voice drew attention to him and everyone turned around. "I...I thought, that you and Mighty...were friends..." Confusion and fear were written in his wide, expressive eyes.

"He is.," Scythe replied, raising a brow. She didn't like it, when someone, who she had come to like, feared her.

"B-but you hit him!" It was obvious, that Silver had some concepts concerning friendship – and violence wasn't a part of it.

"Just to level him. He was spiraling in a panic, because he hurt one of his friends. I know, that only pain helps, if he is like that. We had several cases, where he had_ almost_ hurt someone and panicked, so we know, what to do. Besides, I didn't hit him hard, or he wouldn't be running like that."

"So...you helped him?," Silver asked slowly, trying to understand that. "Yes. Sometimes, you have to be hard on your friends to help them. It is a way of showing care."

Silver frowned. "I...I don't think, that I could ever do that...," he stuttered, insecure. "You don't have to. Look, if one of my friends would be sad or need a hug, they would know, that they can't come to me, because I'm not a hugging-type...and comfort isn't my forte, either. But I bet, that all of your friends could come to you for a hug."

Silver nodded rapidly. "Yeah, anytime.," he confirmed. "See? My friends know, that I'll always back them up and that is, why they will come to me, but if they search for comfort, they will come to the likes of you."

Silver nodded slowly. "I think...I understand you now. So, you have to sometimes say uncomfortable things to your friends, too, right?," he asked, as if to clarify it. "Yes, exactly.," Scythe affirmed.

Tails expected Sonic to explain to Silver, that appearing on Angel Island and convincing him to come here was one of those times, but the hero didn't.

Surprised from this unusual stillness, Tails looked for him, to make sure, that everything was alright, but...

"Guys, where is Sonic?," he asked, letting everyone look around for the hero.

* * *

Sonic hadn't liked the look on Mighty's face, when he had taken off, so he sneaked … well, jogged after him. The armadillo was so lost in thought and eager to meet this someone, that he didn't notice him anyway.

The way to yet another set of gates was shorter, than that of the path they had come. When the gates came into view, so did a figure, that just passed them.

It was a human, a young, lean man with short black hair, that looked pretty much plastered to his head. He wore a dark blue suit with fitting long pants and had his hands buried in his pockets. He walked, as if the place belonged to him, his pale face had an arrogant, overconfident look on it.

His green eyes landed on Mighty coming towards him and he stopped, so did the mobian and also Sonic, who stood far off to not be noticed, but close enough to see and hear everything.

"Human.," Mighty growled with unusual fury. A smirk appeared on the pale lips. "Beast." His voice was as cold as his glare.

"You have no right to be here.," Mighty told him strictly. "So? Is it suddenly a crime to visit family?," the human asked, his voice now, as if he was talking with a little child.

To Sonic's surprise, Mighty smirked suddenly, too. "No, but it is now a crime for you to come here.," he replied, triumph audible in his words.

The smirk fell off the human's face. "What!?," he asked harshly, all humor gone. "You apparently didn't check your mail today, did you? John's lawyers managed to seek the decision of a judge. You and your siblings aren't allowed to get closer than 150 meters to this property OR her. I would suggest, that you go, or I have to remove you myself." Mighty was enjoying this power he had over the human.

Said being gritted his teeth in frustration, his whole body shaking with barely controlled fury.

At once, he whipped around on his heel, turning his back to the mobian. "You've won the battle, but not the war, beast. This isn't over!"

He made a step towards the gate, before he stopped. "I would be careful, if I were you, beast. You know, what happens to rabid animals, don't you?" He turned halfway around again, pulled his right hand, that was closest to Mighty, out of his pocket, directing it towards the armadillo, stretching his thumb and index finger straight out of the fist, with the tip of the index finger pointing to Mighty's head. The threat was obvious, but he spoke it out nonetheless, "They get shot down." He bent his arm upwards at the elbow abruptly, simulating a fired shot.

Mighty didn't react to the death threat, but the human still smirked, put his hand back in his pocket and turned to go.

He stopped, however, when something small hit the ground just millimeters away from the tip of his polished shoe.

He jerked back, having to pull his hands out of his pockets to stretch his arms out and balance himself for a moment, before he looked up.

Sonic did so, too – and saw eight butterfly mobians with wings of all colors. They were all females, wearing dresses, that fit their wing color. They were fluttering in a circle above the human, their wings not interfering with each other.

Each one had a different weapon, either pointed at him, or held threateningly, ready to use them.

"Did you just threaten one of those we were assigned to protect?," the butterfly girl in dark green asked, her gun still pointed at him.

The human swallowed, he started to sweat. "Let this be your first and last warning, human. If we ever see you again next to the armadillo, you won't ever be found.," the butterfly in orange growled, snapping her whip, the sound letting the man flinch.

"And believe me, _we_ are _everywhere_.," a third butterfly in light blue with a sword in her hand added. And just like that, they were gone, while the human was running towards the gates.

Mighty raised his head. "Don't tell me, that Blush really asked you to watch over me.," he said loudly and the girls appeared again, in the same formation, but now standing around the armadillo, their weapons put away.

"Of course not.," the light blue one answered. "But why should the human know that? Besides, I'm sure, that Blush won't be too mad, that we did give him another reason to never return."

"Probably. By the way, you ARE aware of the fact, that weapons are strictly forbidden here, unless it's for training sessions, right?," the male asked sharply.

"I _was _practicing,." the girl in green lied with a grin. "Yeah, right. I'm serious here. NO weapons. Got it?" As an answer, the girls vanished again, leaving it to Mighty to shake his head at their behavior.

He stilled, when the green butterfly girl appeared again, this time kneeling, where the bullet had hit the ground. With a small dagger, she was digging out the bullet.

"Why are you-?," the armadillo started, confused. "We DON'T leave traces, ever.," the girl stated matter-of-factually. Having retrieved the piece of metal, she pocketed it and the dagger and put earth back over the hole, until there was little to no trace of someone digging in the first place.

Satisfied, the butterfly straightened, dusting herself of. "I would be careful, if I were you.," she suddenly said. "I've seen men with eyes like him. He won't give up easily and you are in his way. We can't protect you always." With that, she disappeared.

Mighty sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, if they try to care, or are just saying this for the protocol.," he grumbled and turned around to freeze upon discovering Sonic staring at him.

"Sonic, what are you doing here?," he asked incredulously. "You thought, that I would just let you go, after this stunt with Scythe?," Sonic replied with a frown.

Mighty showed a weak smile. He was grateful, actually, that Sonic had decided to follow him. He was one of the few he trusted to stop him, should he escalate. He saw staying calm always as an achievement, especially in situations like these with the human and those provocatively acting butterflies – but that also meant, that he didn't trust himself, until he saw the result.

Sonic would have tried to stop him with words first, if he would have lost his cool with the human, and only, when he would have realized, that he couldn't reach him like this, battled him.

"So, care to explain?," Sonic asked, nodding his head to where the others were, indicating, that he wanted to talk on the way back.

Mighty complied and came closer, but keeping, after the incident with Scythe, a distance, that let Sonic's instincts pretty much cheer in happiness, deciding, that they liked Mighty currently the most.

"This...human... was maybe Shy's brother.," the armadillo started. Sonic raised a brow. "Maybe?," he repeated.

Mighty sighed tiredly. "Yeah. Long story, I'll start from the beginning." Basically, he had the same position as Scythe concerning the problems of his friends, but he needed to vent now – and he trusted Sonic to keep it a secret.

"Two years ago, when we reached dry land with Angel Island, a few reporters took a picture of me carrying Shy and published it."

Sonic nodded, he remembered that picture, Tails had shown it to him in a newspaper, while he had been recovering from the whole ordeal.

The armadillo had looked deadly serious on the picture, he still remembered that the most, but the strong mobian had kept his glare away from the camera, cradling Shy's limp form close protectively. The teen's head had been bent to the side, the camera had taken a good photo of her pale, relaxed, yet exhausted, face. A young mouse girl and an older human girl, from Tails, Sonic knew, that they were called Emma and Kari, had been caught on the picture, too, while running after him, both also not looking in the camera.

"I didn't think much of it, I just wanted to get us all away. We stayed in the jungle for about a year, before we met Kylie there and she offered us to work here. It was tempting and we wanted for Ray, Kari and Emma to go to school, so we agreed. And that was, when the trouble started."

Mighty paused a moment to rub his most likely hurting head. "Suddenly, there appeared some guy in a suit, claiming to be the lawyer of a pretty wealthy family and said, that Shy would be the long lost heiress of their money and properties. He said, that he had recognized her because of this picture in the newspaper, she looks apparently like 'the deceased last lady of the family'. I saw a picture, and they really look alike, like sisters. But Shy keeps claiming, that she doesn't know those people."

"This whole story sounds strange.," Sonic stated. Mighty nodded. "It does, it doesn't make sense, so I asked this lawyer for more information."

Sonic grinned faintly – he could imagine, that a stressed Mighty 'asking' for more information included a desk destroyed beyond compare... or well, something along those lines.

"This 'heiress' was called Shyra, like Shy's real name is, too, but she was declared dead, when she was three. Her parents died in a burning car wreck and she had been in the car, too, so they had to assume that. From the girl were never found any traces, but they had simply assumed, that she had been burnt to ashes. Her older siblings had been made to the heirs, although the last will had only wanted the youngest one to inherit everything."

"Maybe she survived..." Mighty shook his head. "Even if that's true, there is still the problem with the age difference. The car accident, that had killed the trio, happened nine years ago. If the girl had survived, then she would be twelve years old now. Our Shy is eighteen. I mean, she is definitely looking it and claims to be, so why shouldn't she? Still, this stubborn lawyer insists, that she is the one and only Shyra Mills, heiress of the Mills-wealth, until the opposite is proven. And since there are no official records of Shy whatsoever, this might take a while."

"Okay...and what do you have against her brother...if he is that, that is?" "Since Shy is refusing any DNA-test, that would prove her as a Mills-family member, or not, the whole money and so on was frozen, and the other siblings only get a little bit of it per month, around one thousand mobian dollars. They want more, though, and pressure her into making this test. Once she is proven to not be the heiress, they would get access to the whole amount again. But Shy refuses, adamantly, no matter, what the others and I tried so far to convince her...or these humans. And this guy, Michael, is the worst. He tries everything to get her to comply. Since he threatened to kill Emma and Kari, if she doesn't obey, I'm very keen of getting him away from them. Seems, as if I was successful at last."

Sonic and Mighty both fell silent for a minute, the others coming just into view. "How much... do you know about Shy?," Sonic asked finally.

Mighty chuckled tiredly. "I asked myself that already. We all have our share of secrets, but Shy and her sisters have the biggest. I know, that they are eighteen, ten and thirteen now, the few allergies they have and a few of their dislikes and likes, especially concerning food and sleeping habits, but that's it. I don't know, where they were born, what they did in the jungle, where we met, how they themselves met and became so close – nothing."

"You'll protect her anyway, right?," Sonic asked with a knowing grin. Mighty was like a dog, once he had met someone he liked, he stayed loyally to him or her. The armadillo smirked back. "Until my dying day."

* * *

Shadow had been pretty angry with Sonic for running away like that, but the hero just shot him an annoyed look, cutting his chastising off, and asked Silver to continue their walk.

The younger uke was happy with that, especially, as he loved to report, since he had learned something new about friendship. Sonic let him tell everything on their way towards the building, ignoring Shadow pointedly in the process.

The dark agent had the feeling, that he had done something wrong again, he just couldn't figure out, what. He had just been worried, for Chaos' sake!

Silver was so caught up in his talk with Sonic, that he didn't notice Scythe staying at the small hut, hollering her goodbyes, while Mighty joined the group.

The armadillo was grateful, that Amy and Tails simply ignored his little slip-up and chatted with him animatedly. Knuckles had his guard up, he noticed, but he also knew, how real distrust looked in his eyes and didn't find any.

After a while, the lawn on the sides of their path got replaced by a high fence on their left and high hedges on the right. "This is, where the semes are.," Silver explained, pointing to the completely closed metal fence. "And there are the ukes, and the children, too, usually." He pointed to the hedge.

"Children?," Sonic repeated. Cream and Mephiles had spoken of them, too, but he hadn't really noticed it, too busy with other topics.

"The Uke Shelter is one big daycare. Here come daily about five hundred children, not to mention those of the ukes.," Mighty helped to explain.

"And why are ukes and semes separated?," Rouge asked. "Just outside the building. The semes are usually training and that can become dangerous for the children and ukes. It's a rule here, that semes and ukes aren't allowed in the respective other half.," Mighty explained.

Silver nodded enthusiastically. "That's right!" Suddenly, however, the smile fell off the silver uke's face and he stopped.

"Is something the matter?," Sonic asked, stopping, too, and looking around, but the path in front of them, along that stretched the fence and hedge to form a long hallway, was empty.

Slowly, Silver raised his right hand, stretching it out in front of him, narrowing his eyes in the process.

Sonic blinked, when a part of the air on his right started to move, practically rippling in waves of Silver's turquoise energy. Silver frowned and the rippling got stronger, until there was the sound of shattering and the energy scattered in all directions, creating a blue colored mist.

When it had cleared, they saw a pale human girl with long, unkempt red hair in short blue pants and an orange t-shirt, lying on the ground.

"Kari!" Mighty rushed to her side, but jerked at the last moment back, afraid to touch and hurt her, like Scythe before.

Rouge and Amy both decided at the same time to take over and knelt down next to her, with the bat checking her pulse.

"It's nothing bad, she seems to be a little weak, but that's all.," Rouge explained. Mighty sighed in relief, just when the girl stirred. She opened her eyes and noticed the two mobian girls first. Scared, she scrambled back, until she noticed Mighty behind them and calmed down. "Is everything okay with you?," the armadillo asked.

Her blue eyes filled with tears. "I-I thought, that nobody would ever find me!," she sobbed, trembling hard.

Thankfully, Amy was there to take her in her arms and soothe her and quickly, the girl calmed down again. "Kari, what happened?," Mighty asked carefully, not wanting to make her cry again.

Her eyes filled with tears again, still. "I...I was suddenly in this strange bubble-thing – and nobody saw or heard me! I thought, that nobody would ever notice me!," she cried, leaning into Amy, who patted her back awkwardly.

"Whose abilities did you copy? Who did you touch?," Mighty wondered. The girl just shrugged helplessly. Strange, that she didn't remember, she was usually more careful...

"Did you try to find Shy?," the strong mobian asked next. The human teenager could see auras, the energy signatures, that surrounded all living beings, she would have discovered her adopted sister with ease.

Kari looked away and shook her head slowly. "But why? Kari, it was pure luck, that Silver found you this fast!," Mighty scolded.

The girl glared at him. "As if I wouldn't notice, how bad she is feeling right now!," she snapped.

Mighty frowned. He had often enough seen Shy putting up a brave face, when she was sick, injured or worried, but her sisters weren't babies anymore, they were bound to notice and see through her facade sooner or later.

And since Kari was caring more about others than herself, she would have sat there until...she would have died, or been found, whatever would have come first.

She had been probably too worried about her older sister to remember, in whom she had run to copy his or her ability, too.

Deciding to let the topic drop, he let Rouge and Amy help the girl up and was worried, when he saw her sway a little. Since she hadn't trained at all so far, her limits were laughably low, it was more than just possible, that she was exhausted beyond compare.

"S-Silver!?," Sonic heard Tails gasp suddenly and when he turned around, he saw the fox struggling with holding the silver uke upright, who leaned heavily on him. Silver was suddenly pale and looked about ready to collapse.

By now, the friends weren't surprised, that a light flashed and Mephiles stood in front of them a second later.

Tails gulped and trembled at the sight of the towering seme, but Mephiles didn't even look at him, he just gently pulled Silver off the young genius and to him, supporting his weight effortlessly. "You overdid it, huh?," he asked softly. Silver whimpered and nodded, leaning against him.

Mephiles sighed and looked up to the others. "I'm afraid to end your meeting, but I need to bring Silver to the ward, if he is like that.," he explained neutrally.

"Could you take Kari with you, too?," Mighty asked quickly. The dark being looked towards the girl, who didn't look good, either, and sighed again.

"Fine. Come here." With his free hand, that wasn't holding up Silver, he waved her over and slowly, Kari was swaying closer. She didn't seem afraid of him, although Mephiles wasn't exactly a nice looking person. Once he deemed her close enough, he raised his hand a little and snapped his fingers.

* * *

Mephiles didn't appear in the ward as he had said, he had changed his plans after evaluating Silver's condition and finding it not as bad, as he had first feared. He didn't need medical attention, just some peace and quiet – and the wards here were usually the opposite of that, so he changed his plans.

He knew the building like the back of his hand and had therefore no problem to find one of the rooms, which were especially for ukes, who needed to retreat from everything for a while.

He appeared in such a room, a simple white one with a freshly made bed, two big sofas with soft cushions and a small table between both sofas. There was a little shelf with a few books and decoration objects next to the door, that was, as he knew, locked for all semes, but otherwise, there was no furniture. Light came through a big window opposite the door, together with a light breeze, as it was open a bit, the white curtains dancing lazily in front of it.

Kari moved first, she swayed over to one of the sofas, plopping on it, leaving the bed to Silver. Mephiles smirked. Smart girl.

Gently, he picked Silver up and placed him on the bed covers. He knew, that Silver was feeling uncomfortably hot right now due to the excess energy coursing through his body and wouldn't appreciate it to be tucked in. Carefully, he massaged his temples.

"S-sorry...," the younger hedgehog whimpered weakly. "Shh, you have absolutely no reason to apologize, love.," Mephiles soothed.

Silver had somehow overused his powers and lost control over his energy balance – again. He wasn't fully matured, yet and naturally tended to overestimate his limits, it was neither unusual, nor concerning, unless he tried to push further after feeling his limits, like he had done now. If something like that happened, he needed to rest for a while to balance his energy out and to cool down again.

At times, he also needed a special herb, that helped him to level out his energy, but Mephiles had memorized, how his symptoms were, when he needed his medication and knew, that it wasn't necessary right now. He just needed some rest.

"Want me to help you sleep?," he asked lovingly. He knew, that Silver couldn't fall asleep easily, if he was like that and, that he would never ask Mephiles to help him sleep. He just was too shy to speak it out, so Mephiles was used to offer it, whenever Silver seemed to have trouble with calming down.

The uke nodded. "C-Can you tell Sonic? And the others? I...I don't want them to worry.," he asked meekly.

Mephiles chuckled fondly and gently kissed his forehead. "Of course, love. Sleep well, and call me, when you're feeling better.," he whispered against his mate's head and used a little bit of Chaos Energy to agitate the parts of Silver's brain, that would let him fall asleep.

He just touched them for a second, not longer, which reassured him, that Silver would sleep lightly and wake up on his own.

If he wanted him to sleep deeply, which had happened once or twice in the past, he would keep the Chaos Energy there longer, or for as long as he needed him asleep, to have him waking up, when he removed his energy again.

Satisfied to hear the even breathing, he straightened and looked to the girl, who had dozed off, too, lying slumped on her side on the sofa.

With a grin, he turned to the fourth person in the room. "I'm impressed, that you were able to link our energies in the short amount of time I needed to warp, but voyeurism is highly frowned up on, you know?," he smirked towards the dark GUN-agent, who stood close to the door and had been watching him the whole time. "You're always there for him, huh?," Shadow simply asked as an answer.

Mephiles raised a brow. The jealousy and envy in the other's voice were unmistakable. "You're a fool." He shook his head. "It is so simple to be a good mate, yet, you don't get it.," he almost chastised.

Shadow seemed to realize finally, that he had allowed himself a moment of weakness and quickly schooled his facial expression to a neutral mask. "Why did you say, that Perringten might be behind this institution here?," he asked the first question, that came to his mind, everything to not mention the embarrassing moment.

Mephiles smirked. "Who knows? Maybe I know something no one else does?," he singsonged, apparently highly amused, like always, when he had the feeling to have the upper hand, especially towards Shadow.

**WARNING!**

"What, that he is magically still alive? As far as I know, normal people can't live without a heart – and I for sure didn't dream, that you cut it out, while Fleetway devoured the other...souvenirs.," Shadow replied dryly.

Mephiles' eyes widened for a second, before he put on another emotionless expression. "So, you did watch?," he asked, seemingly not really interested.

Shadow raised a brow himself. "I had the choice between watching you cutting out a heart out of a body and Fleetway eating the second eyeball of said body with the dick being next. What did you think I would choose?"

"I would have chosen the second option...maybe joined in.," the dark being grumbled, his eyes flashing in violet and suddenly, there was violet Chaos Energy surrounding them in a sphere.

**END OF WARNING! **

Only the two semes were in this 'room' and Shadow could guess, that nobody besides them would be able to hear the rest of their talk.

Looking over Mephiles' shoulder, he saw, that Silver's chest wasn't moving – Mephiles had frozen time and only excluded them of this.

"Impressive.," Shadow stated, though keeping his voice neutral. "You learn a lot, if you spend time with semes of... _half_ your own talent.," the other male shrugged.

"So, what's the reason for this?," Shadow got straight to the point, gesturing to the energy building.

Mephiles turned serious and started to walk along the wall of the sphere, circling Shadow, almost like a vulture – if it weren't for his distant look.

Shadow just stayed, where he was, listening to the steps, in that his voice mixed after a few seconds. "As you know, I am not a normal mobian.," Mephiles started, he seemed deep in thought.

Shadow didn't say anything. "I am a demonic being, rare nowadays, but we still exist. As such a being, I know, that there is more to certain things – and one of those is death. Most people think, that death is...the end, but people like me know, that it doesn't have to be. There are ways of getting deceased back. It isn't ideal, not to mention temporary at best, of course, and all ways I know to achieve this have a negative purpose. The core component for all practices of resurrection is the heart of said person, that's why I took it with me."

"Why should anyone ever try to resurrect an asshole like Perringten?," Shadow asked, irritated.

Mephiles laughed tiredly. "Because he WAS an asshole. My kind tries since the beginning of time to let the tyranny of someone last longer by resurrecting him or her for a second lifetime. Perringten would be their perfect target."

"If that's true, why isn't there a single case known, where such a villain lived longer, or stopped being dead?"

"If you look into history, you'll find, that some tyrants lived very long for the time they lived in – and it wasn't because of their physicians' great work, I assure you. However, this are the exceptions, usually, all tries of my kind fail, because of old rituals, that let them extract and put the heart in a mixture of herbs, that demons can't touch, or because the cause of death had been something, that damaged the heart, something like that. That's the problem with those practices – one scratch on the heart, and about 9/10 of them are useless."

**WARNING!**

"I didn't see you damage the heart of Perringten, or feed it to Fleetway...," Shadow stated distrustfully.

Mephiles waved his claw lazily. "I know, how GUN treats deceased criminals, whose families don't want to have anything to do with their funeral. You gather the bodies, cremate them and bury them anonymously. The time, until a body gets cremated, varies, however – especially, if you deal with people like Towers. That's plenty of time for a demonic creature to steal the heart. As for not damaging it, as I said, there are only nine of ten practices, who need an intact heart, the last tenth could use a damaged one, but would need a second, intact heart to repair the desired one. And feeding it to Fleetway wasn't safe enough for me. One cell spilled, and someone could take advantage of it."

**END OF WARNING!**

Shadow rose a brow again. "You are...awfully considerate of everyone's welfare...," he stated, not believing a single word.

Mephiles scoffed. "I have a mate, in case you forgot. The world needs to be a safe place for the eternity I plan to spend with him."

Shadow frowned. "He is immortal?" "He will be. The mates of demonic beings always become immortal after the first mating. I'll explain this to him beforehand...as soon, as he can fully realize, what this means." Mephiles frowned himself.

He loved Silver, but his naivety was making it hard sometimes to talk with him about serious topics. He had absolutely NO idea, how the heck he should explain the concept of immortality and an eternal life together to someone, who barely thought two hours in the future.

"So...where is the heart now?," Shadow changed the topic, before it could come to Sonic's immortality.

Mephiles stopped his pacing, his profile now directly in front of Shadow. "I lost it.," he said after a moment of silence. "You- How in HELL can you lose a heart, that isn't in its body anymore!?," Shadow raged.

Mephiles gave him a dry look, before he continued his way, Shadow following him now with his eyes, turning, whenever he needed to.

"I...kept it in my house...and Silver found it. He didn't understand, what he saw, but the look of a heart isn't exactly a nice one and he felt scared, so..." "He let the house levitate and destroyed it, correct?"

Mephiles sighed. "I thought I told him not to speak about this.," he grumbled. "How else was he supposed to tell us, why you are living here now? However, he only said, that he was scared, he never mentioned a heart..."

The dark being pressed his ears to his skull. "I'm not proud of it...but I changed his memory marginally. His nightmares just wouldn't stop, so I took all images of what he had seen out of his memories and replaced them by the general feeling of fear."

Shadow was, in a morbid way, actually relieved, that Mephiles wasn't the perfect mate either. He himself would never do something like that to Sonic...even if he could.

"When I saw the house in ruins, I only thought abut Silver, who was buried somewhere under the rubble, I never even once remembered the heart. Only when Silver was in safe hands and proven to be out of danger, I returned and looked for it. I looked at every single piece of rubble, but there wasn't even one cell of it sticking to any piece of debris. It's gone and I don't know why.," Mephiles continued. "Why? Apparently some of your demonic friends stole it, right under your no-!"

At once, Mephiles stood in front of Shadow, their noses touching and the dark agent found himself unable to move. He saw, that Mephiles had transformed himself into his far more dangerous form, he was obviously pissed.

"Did you really _think_, that I would play with Silver's safety by just putting the thing in a jar and be done with it!? I put spells on it, of course! I ensured, that no living or demonic being could ever touch it!"

Shadow rather didn't dwell on the 'living or demonic' part – the fact, that Mephiles didn't have a heart was creeping him out still. "How was it possible to steal it, when it was this good protected?," he asked instead.

Mephiles backed off, releasing his hold on the agent, turning around and staying with his back towards Shadow a few steps away from him. "I don't know. I did as much research as I could, but I found no explanation, besides...my worry wavering my control."

He straightened a little. "I'm definitely not _that_ weak." The wall around them started to dissolve slowly. "You should return now.," Mephiles said dismissively, wanting to end the talk, that had turned to embarrassing topics, now.

"Why would you tell me all that? Last time I checked, you couldn't stand me!," Shadow asked. "Who said I can now? The problem is, that Silver likes Sonic and after all he did for...us, I guess, I can't simply ask him to cut all contacts to him, which means, that we will have to...get along.," Mephiles replied with a neutral voice. "Is that your only reason?," the dark agent asked.

Mephiles chuckled amused. "Clever and distrusting as usual, Agent Shadow." The wall built itself up again, while Mephiles turned around, a smirk on his lips. "For a second there, I thought, that you were becoming soft." Shadow just scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Mephiles came towards Shadow, stopping, so that he was an arms-length away. "Alright, I'll tell you. Who knows, maybe you'll become useful one day?"

In reality, Mephiles still remembered Sonic's immense power he showed off two years ago and by now, he had learned enough about mobian hedgehogs to know, that someone like Sonic wouldn't mate someone weaker than him, so the agent had to be stronger than he had assumed so far.

Shadow, unaware of his thought process, just raised a brow, not amused. "Although I can't explain, how the heart got away, I have to assume the worst. It might be, that Perringten comes back to life, if he isn't already." "Are you scared?," Shadow asked, remembering a few of the man's last words.

_You will _always_ be afraid of me, no matter how hard you try to forget. You will _always_ be under me, no matter how hard you try to surpass me. You will _never_ escape me, no matter how far you run_.

"Of him? Not a chance. But I'm worried about who might resurrect him and for what." "Just what exactly would he be useful for?" "Information, easy as that." "Information? From this crazy guy? I would expect more information from Fleetway!"

Mephiles shook his head. "You're so naive. You apparently forgot, that he went quite a length to capture and breed us. I doubt, that this is a hobby of his."

Shadow's eyes widened. Now, that he said that... _You see, I am...collecting. I collect very rare ukes..._ He had never told them why.

Mephiles was right. Perringten had planned the whole Island-incident carefully, maybe over years. He had had a plan...for that he now got a second chance, maybe.

"Did you ask Kylie, or John?" "I did, that's why I am worried." Mephiles paused and looked to Silver's still figure. "I never knew, how special he really is, until I learned the whole story.," he mumbled. "Which is?," Shadow prodded impatiently.

Mephiles laughed coldly. "I could tell you, of course, but that would make us friends, and that would ruin my reputation, wouldn't it? No worries, you'll learn the whole truth soon enough. Knowing Kylie, you won't leave this place, before you did."

Shadow suppressed a smirk. He could guess, that Kylie had actually forced him to leave that to her – she was better in telling stuff like that.

"Fine." Shadow got out his Chaos Emerald – that Knuckles reluctantly allowed him to use – but stopped, before he could warp away, when a sudden question came into his head. "Say...is Fleetway a demonic being?," he asked. If he had to describe a demonic being, the light male would be, after Mephiles, the first one, who would pop into his mind...

Mephiles stiffened, obviously surprised, before he chuckled. "Surprisingly, yes, he is. As I said, our kind is rare and I never thought, that I could be caged with another demonic being. You can recognize the signs clearly, demonic beings have an appetite for raw meat, for example, or have uniquely marked body parts, in Fleetway's case his eyes. However, he isn't a full demon, like most demonic beings out there should be, the demon blood in him is pretty thin. Kylie asked me to always watch him from afar, though. Even the thinnest blood can boil, after all. And no worries – he _does_ in fact have a heart.," Mephiles couldn't help but mention. He still had Shadow's reaction to him being a literally heartless being in mind and it was definitely one of his favorite memories...next to all the ones of Silver, of course.

"I see. Well, I'll be off.," Shadow shrugged. The fact, that Fleetway was a demon, wasn't going to change anything – if he caused trouble, then he would simply arrest him, easy as that.

"You're not curious, why I didn't bring them to the ward as I said?," Mephiles asked, amused. He could guess, that it was bothering Shadow not to know that. He was always like this.

To his surprise, though, the dark agent just grinned himself. "I know you well enough by now, you always have your reasons for every little thing you do. I'm not always agreeing to or understanding your actions, but I know, that you do. So no, I'm not asking...although, I do have one last question – are you really afraid of a little mouse girl?" Feeling, that he had gotten Mephiles back, he quickly disappeared, before the other could answer, shattering the dark being's hold on time in the process.

"Hm...someone grew up, I see. Not bad, Agent Shadow, I'm mildly impressed.," Mephiles mumbled in the room, his voice soft enough to allow the two occupants of it to rest further, before he disappeared himself, leaving his mate to recover in peace.

* * *

Michael Mills kicked against his desk's leg, again and again, with all of his might, until a staple of papers slipped off the top and scattered across his office's floor.

He saw the letter of John's lawyer fluttering past him, grabbed a random wooden figure and threw it with a scream of rage after the piece of paper. The statue hit the door and broke in half.

"This little beast!," he snarled, crossed the room, picked up the pieces of the figure and strode over to the fireplace between desk and door, staring at the flames and imagining with sadistic glee the armadillo writhing in them and then also the butterfly bitches for good measure. For now, the wood pieces had to do, so he threw them in the fire, enjoying the sounds the burning did create.

The feeling of dried sweat, that had gotten created in his haste to get away from the females earlier, on him only let his hatred flare up again. He had simply fled like a commoner, letting fear get to him...they would pay for embarrassing him like that!

He needed a body to vent for real, but the butlers, maids and other servants were aware of this trait of his and knew to keep away from the wing with his rooms, when he was in a foul mood, unless they wanted to be grabbed out of nowhere and beat, until he was satisfied. Not even the best medical care, provided afterwards by their tormentor, could make the events okay again, so they did everything in their power to stay away without getting fired – the money was too tempting after all.

He looked up, when a knock sounded from the door. "Come in.," the young business man called and moved to sit behind his desk, his face showing nothing but mild interest, which was his face for all businesses.

The door swung open and two of his bulky bodyguards threw in a third man in a worn trench coat, before quickly closing the door. They really didn't want to switch with him. Michael watched, how the trembling man scrambled to his feet.

He was small, so that he could effortlessly place his chin on the top of Michael's desk by just standing in front of it, and pretty fat, his dirty, formerly white shirt looked, as if the buttons would pop off any minute, strained heavily.

His round face, with a bit of greasy brown hair on top of the head, glistened with sweat, his tiny, bloodshot eyes darting around the room and widened, when they fell on the other occupant.

"S-Sir...," he croaked, his badly shaved chin trembling. A thick smell of alcohol waved towards Michael, whose face didn't betray any emotion.

"Figgins, it's nice to see you. As rarely, as we have seen each other lately, I'd say, you're trying to avoid me.," Michael smiled with a silky voice, that let the older, yet smaller, man shiver in fear. "N-no, Sir..."

"No? Considering, that I called you first a year ago, I'd say, that I'm absolutely right. My men really searched the planet for you...to find you in a shabby pub, drinking your liver to death."

"S-Sir, I... I was just-" "Oh, I don't care, what my employees do in their free time.," he shrugged lightly.

His eyes turned ice cold. "However, I could have _sworn_, that I told you nine years ago, that you are CONSTANTLY on the job!"

The human swallowed. "S-Sir, I...I told you, the...the girl g-got adopted..." "Oh, really?," the younger asked, standing up abruptly, making the other flinch back. "I checked the family myself, and I have to say, you chose the child you wanted to replace my sister with well. The same hair color, the same eye color, really, impressive. You just oversaw a little detail there."

He slammed his hands on the desk. "This 'Jamie' is a BOY! Where is my sister, Figgins!?," he screamed, with the man cowering in terror.

"I-I don't know, S-Sir...," he stammered. "You. Don't. Know? How the _hell_ don't you know!?" By now, Michael stood over the shaking Figgins, who would have given the world for just being able to disappear.

"Sh-She ran away, from the o-orphanage, I-I f-followed her, of c-course, all the t-time. I-I...j-just l-looked away f-for a second, I swear! Sh-she was there, in that alley, doing nothing...and then not. I...I searched everywhere, but the girl was gone."

Michael fell silent for a moment, while he contemplated his words. "How long is she gone?," he eventually asked.

Figgins looked a little green now. "S-seven y-y-years.," he squeaked. Michael stared down on him, as if he had grown a second head. "Do you REALLY want to tell me, that you got paid for seven years for NOTHING!?," he snarled. Figgins just started to hyperventilate, unable to answer.

Michael turned away from him, trying to get his thoughts into order. He should have killed her. He should have just killed this little brat and be done with it.

Nobody had noticed, that Shyra had survived the accident, that had killed their parents and returned home all these years ago, nobody, but him. He could have simply killed her and be done with it, but sadly, he had been a teenager back then, who still had had something resembling a heart. Seeing the terrified, crying child, bleeding from various cuts, bruised all over, he hadn't have it in him to do something to her.

Instead, he had let his bodyguards take her into an orphanage in another country, paid all necessary people enough to keep quiet and hired Figgins to watch over her.

He had actually thought, that Shyra getting adopted would have been for the best, to hide her in front of everyone. Shyra had been so young and he had given her a new name – that he couldn't remember for the death of him –, he had been convinced, that nobody would ever come behind this. And now – that. He should have checked on Figgins more regularly.

He stopped his musings, when the hyperventilating behind him turned suddenly into some kind of choking, before it became completely quiet.

He whipped around and saw Figgins, deathly pale and strangely quiet, lying on his back, his eyes and mouth open wide. Michael frowned, when he didn't see a movement of his chest anymore...

"Yes, he's dead. No worries, I'm sure, someone will take care of the body. Bad employees are worth nothing, don't you agree? Death is actually a relief for the both of you.," a voice suddenly said.

Michael looked around, but his office wasn't spacious, there was no place to hide – and even if, how should they even come in his house without anyone noticing?

He turned back to Figgins, when he noticed a change and watched with widened eyes, how the body dissolved into ash, that disappeared all together.

Fighting to get his rising panic under control, he faced the room. "Who are you!? Come out!," he shouted at the air.

"Hm, interesting. You don't even pretend to have hallucinations, you accept everything you see as real.," the voice stated.

"I didn't ask for your philosophic thoughts! I want to know NOW, who you are and what you do in my office!," Michael snarled, his fear feeding his rage.

"Straight to the point, I like that, so fine, I shall answer you. My name is Jester Perringten.," the voice replied, a smirk audible in it.

Michael frowned, crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned to sit against his desk. "Really? Last time I checked, you were dead.," he stated flatly.

He could handle this. Many people tried to trick him. Being just 25 years of age, people tended to think, that he was an idiot and therefore attempted to betray him. This was just another try to get to him, wasn't it?

"I learned a while ago, that death isn't that much of a dead end as I had thought." "Is that so? Then you shouldn't have a problem with coming out of your hiding place right now.," Michael practically ordered, wanting a proof.

A chuckle was his answer. "You fool. I am not physically there. We are communicating via our thoughts right now, thanks to an ally of mine. Currently, I can't afford leaving my hideout. One of my other allies, however, watched your little disagreement with the mobians earlier."

Michael snarled. "This beast and his mosquito brigade mean nothing!" "Oh, I agree, don't worry. Tell me, wouldn't you like it to crush the pest like the bug it is?"

"If it means working together with someone I can't see? No.," Michael replied with a scoff, crossing his arms. It was tempting, so very tempting, since he had no idea how to make this thing pay properly, but this was all so strange and his gut told him to decline the offer. And he always listened to his gut.

"Too bad, considering the gift I would have for you..." A cold light flashed in front of the young businessman, startling and blinding him.

When the annoying dots in front of his eyes finally disappeared, he looked up to have his jaw dropped upon seeing, who stood suddenly in the middle of the room.

"H-how?," he whispered, amazed. "Thank another one of my allies for that.," was all the voice replied.

Michael moved away from his desk and around the new occupant of the room, before he stopped, his thin lips formed to a smirk. Screw his gut, this was amazing!

"Alright, you convinced me, Perringten, or whoever you are. You gave me, what I want, so I might at least listen to your request." In the voice was a smirk audible as well. "Wise choice."

* * *

Shadow appeared exactly, where he had disappeared. "Ah, there you are." He turned his head and saw Rouge and Omega standing behind him. The others were further away, already walking towards the building again.

"Sonic said, that we wouldn't need to wait for you, but I wanted to.," the bat explained. Shadow's ears pressed to his skull. Was Sonic still mad at him for chastising him before? Why wouldn't he wait for him to return?

Shaking off the thought, he just straightened and warped them all closer to the group – the only way for Omega to actually catch up, unless the friends waited for about 15 minutes. He really wasn't a speed robot.

"Blush, not again!," they just heard Mighty scold, when they arrived. Curious, Shadow moved past the friends, so that he could see, what was happening.

They were close to the front door of the building now, just separated from it by a big circle of lawn, around that wound the path in both directions.

On their right side, on another, rectangular piece of lawn, framed on two sides by the high hedge, was a very strange sight.

The butterfly girl Blush sat...on a hedgehog? The brown furred male was on his hands and knees and shaking like a leaf, he was apparently not doing this voluntarily – or the girl sitting on his back was heavier, than she looked.

The quills on his back were strangely pressed tightly to it, which was impossible, if his back was this strained right now. He wondered, how she managed to do this, since the hedgehog was apparently not responsible for this.

A second male stood still like a statue behind her, his belly serving as her back rest. A third one, also on his hands and knees, was her footstool, that she didn't use right now, and the fourth in the same position was carrying a glass with some kind of juice on his back, as well as an open book.

The girl had spread out her wings and a fifth male hedgehog with gray fur in a wide red T-shirt stood behind her, polishing the edge of one of the wings with a piece of cloth, while they watched. Judging by his relaxed posture, he was the only hedgehog, who was actually here by his own free will. The way the female assassin had treated the other hedgehogs, was either not a new sight for him, or he was more courageous, than it seemed.

"Not now.," Blush just waved at Mighty impatiently, as if she wanted to shoo him away, before she turned her head back to the hedgehog polishing her wing.

"As I said, I was just one second at the party, when already this stuck-up bitch pretty much jumped on me and screamed, that I was wearing the same color as her – which is apparently a deadly sin."

The hedgehog giggled. "W-what did y-you do-o?," he managed to ask between his high pitched giggles.

"Since I didn't want to change my dress and killing her would have ruined the mood of everyone, I simply threw a portion of punch on her dress. And voilà, her dress was of a darker red than mine, problem solved.," Blush explained with a smirk, making a show of raising her nose in exaggerated pride.

The hedgehog chuckled, highly amused by her tale and gestures, before he turned serious again. "I...I didn't know, that you...you also...well, protect people, like this girl you accompanied to her prom, or the pupil, who you followed over weeks discreetly. I thought... well...," he let the sentence drop, blushing.

"I know. Everybody thinks, that assassins are just murderers and usually, we are, but stealing, kidnapping or protecting people also belongs to our offers." "B-But...doesn't that make you...criminals?," the hedgehog asked, backing off a little.

Blush sighed and folded her wings. "According to law – yes. But according to morals – no. It's not like we go around and kill people, if someone else pays enough for it."

"N-no?," the hedgehog asked, insecurely. "No. We aren't just stupid killer machines. We check each of our targets thoroughly, before we take any action. Is he/she doing something illegal? Is he/she corrupt, maybe a murderer himself/herself? Should the person just be in the way of our client, but is innocent anyway, we either kill the client, or, if the situation is far more complicated, we see, that we protect all innocents involved."

"And...the kidnapping? Why should you do that?," the shy one asked. "It's usually just the rescuing of someone, who had been kidnapped first, usually children. We just call it 'kidnapping', because our methods are hardly legal."

"O-oh..." Slowly, the hedgehog edged closer again, having found his trust again, it seemed.

"W-which missions...do you like best?," he asked timidly, while he raised his hand with the cloth to indicate, that he wanted to continue his doing.

The butterfly frowned, while she willingly raised her wing to let him. "Hm...good question, I never thought of it, but I guess, I like the stealing the most. Nowadays, people have a lot of technological security, it's always the best training, avoiding all the lasers and stuff."

Rouge actually nodded in agreement at her words, as Shadow noticed from the corner of his eye. She apparently saw it totally like the butterfly.

"Blush...," Mighty growled, clearly frustrated of being ignored. "I think we need to stop our talk. Mighty's in 'big brother'-mode again.," Blush mocked, while the armadillo flushed a little. "Stop saying that all the time. And what did I tell you about making your furniture out of semes?," he chastised.

Sonic couldn't help it, Mighty did really sound like a big brother scolding his younger sibling. If he saw this correctly, then his armadillo-friend was the oldest, if not by much, of all of his female friends. No wonder, that he was so protective over the girls.

"You told me to not do this, UNLESS they deserve it. And they do. This one here, for example.," she poked the one she sat on, "He tried to gift me flowers. This one.," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder, poking it into the white furred body behind her. "This one tried to serenade me."

She took the glass off her 'table' and took a small sip, before putting it down hard, causing a small wince from the orange furred seme. "This one tried to put his arm around my shoulders without permission. And this one.," she dug her heel in her green footstool, causing a wince, too. "This one had the audacity to call me 'Missy'!," she growled, as if that was the worst of the 'crimes' they had committed.

"Wow, I'm surprised you didn't castrate him then and there.," Mighty grumbled annoyed, while the semes stiffened.

"Please, I know the rules. _First_ I warn them...my way, and only after the second time, I can castrate them.," Blush waved him off.

The males were now all sweating and trembling. They had experienced the girl's capability first hand, so they were naturally worried about their manhood. "Blush, release them.," Mighty ordered flatly.

Blush narrowed her eyes and stood up slowly, giving the hedgehog polishing her wing enough time to step back.

She made a show of stretching her limbs and wings thoroughly, before she looked at Mighty again. "Fine, it's time anyway.," she shrugged, bringing herself in the air with a single move of her wings.

She held herself in the air with small movements, while she pulled out four needles and threw them, hitting her victims with one needle each, hitting the exact same spot every time. She had an amazing aim, Shadow had to admit it.

Almost immediately, the males stirred and stood up for the first time in who knew how long – it had been a while, probably, seeing how their knees shook.

"Now you know, what happens next time, so be warned.," Blush told them gravely and they quickly disappeared into the building, the automatic doors closing behind them.

"Disappointing.," the girl stated and shook her head, her feelers trembling due to the movement.

She landed again and turned to the remaining hedgehog. "Thanks for the polishing, it's always so bothersome to try it on my own.," she smiled "You're welcome – but shouldn't I continue? There are for sure still many loose scales, that just wait to get wiped off!," the hedgehog argued. "Without furniture? I'd like to see you try and reach the top of my wings.," the girl chuckled.

The hedgehog looked around and blushed. "Oh..." "How about you try and find a chair? If you find one and still want to, then we can continue.," she suggested.

The young male's face lit up. "Okay, be right back!," he cheered and ran in the building, the automatic doors thankfully opening quick enough to prevent him from running into them.

Blush grinned after him, before she turned to Mighty. "That should keep him busy for a few minutes. Now, what is on your mind? I can see, that there is something."

"There is indeed. Could you please tell your sisters _again_, that weapons are strictly forbidden on the _whole_ property?," Mighty asked, annoyed still. "Don't be such a bore. I told you, they need to practice.," the girl shrugged.

"NOT on living targets and NOT, where children might appear at any given minute.," Mighty growled.

Sonic was actually proud, that Mighty did see the attack on the person he probably hated the most right now still as a bad thing.

Blush rolled her eyes. "You exaggerate, but fine, I'll talk with them. Anything else?," she asked, bored.

"Actually, yes. Would it be okay, if we have an addition to our night training from now on?," Mighty asked.

Shadow raised a brow in confusion. He had been talking with Mephiles, when the armadillo had told the friends about their training at night in a nearby rocky valley, where they didn't have to hold back.

Mighty had brought this on, because he had thought loudly about integrating Kari, whose copy cat-powers were apparently in need of exercise. After this incident a few minutes ago, he rather tried to get these powers under control.

Blush was silent, letting her glare swipe over the group, before she declared, "If it's the blue one, I'll pass."

"It's not-" Mighty paused and blinked, looking from Sonic over to Blush. "What would be wrong with Sonic?," he asked, confused. Sonic raised a brow. He would like to hear that, too.

The girl snorted. "_Please_. People with speed are the worst sparring partners ever. I can cancel this little advantage out easily, just like that." She snapped her slender fingers. "And then they're not really a challenge anymore, are they?," she added, smirking.

"You really think so?," Sonic asked, stepping forward. He couldn't help, but feel offended – and she should be proud, Eggman succeeded in that task with far more tries, than she had needed.

"Of course I do.," the girl still smirked. "I've had lots of opponents already, who were proud of their 'speed', if you want to call it that. They all cried like babies, when I was done with them. No one of them had sonic speed, I give you that, but it can't be that much of a difference, now, can it?"

Sonic didn't know, when he had started to move, but he suddenly found himself opposite the girl, they were both standing so, that they showed his friends their profiles. "What, you want to prove the opposite?," Blush asked, still smirking. Sonic's glare softened a little, showing his uncertainty.

"Blush...," Mighty warned. He knew, that it was against Sonic's morals to just attack someone. To fight back, okay, but to actively start a fight, just because he got a little provoked? This wasn't even training, Blush was deadly serious here!

"No worries, I'm not going to tear him apart.," the butterfly waved the armadillo's words off and turned back to the blue hero, while pulling out of the left pocket of her dress something, that Sonic identified as one end of a blue ribbon.

"Tell you what – try and get that ribbon off me, I won't move anything, but my wings.," they fluttered a little, as if to mark her words, "Succeed, and I take my words back. What do you say?"

Sonic contemplated her suggestion. He could simply run past her and grab it, yet, he had the feeling, that something was off, that she planned something.

Shaking off the thought, he got ready. Trap or not, he wanted – needed – to prove himself! And honestly, he didn't see, why this should be a challenge.

"Fine.," he grinned, crouching a little lower – this were just twenty meters, tops, he wouldn't need much preparation. It was a piece of cake.

Blush grinned in triumph and her wings shrunk, until they had half of their size, which reduced the risk of them getting accidentally hurt by the hero. Tauntingly, it seemed, they fluttered once.

"Then come!," the girl practically ordered, giving a start signal at the same time and Sonic started off, running towards the blue ribbon, his left hand already outstretched, but just when his fingertips brushed over it, his whole body froze solid.

His heart raced – he couldn't move ANYTHING! He just stood there like a statue, his right leg stretched out and his left one under his slightly bent over torso, his left hand stretched out and his right one balled to a fist and held next to his body, ready to give him momentum.

"Now, is that all you've got?," the butterfly girl asked next to him, tauntingly, but he was too panicked to react to it. He fought with all of his might against the paralysis, but it seemed to get only worse every second...

"Blush, ENOUGH! Get rid of the poison, NOW!," Mighty roared and the girl groaned, annoyed. "Spoilsport.," she muttered.

Her wings grew again and she moved them, creating a strong gust of wind, that blew away all remains of her invisible poison mist.

She took out a needle laced with the antidote and stabbed it in the hedgehog's neck, before pulling it out again almost immediately.

Sonic managed a small shudder, when the metal left him and he noticed with immeasurable relief, that he could move his body again. Slowly, as his muscles felt a little stiff, he straightened, the stiffness leaving quickly.

He jumped a little, when Chaos Spears raced very close past him and to where Blush was, but the girl brought herself quickly in the air, dodging this way.

"Come down here, so I can kill you, you bitch!," Shadow snarled, practically glowing with red Chaos Energy. "Yeah, because you asked _so_ nicely.," Blush smirked.

"Hey, try to stay calm...," Mighty tried to pacify the raging seme, but had to jump to the side – together with Tails, Amy and Knuckles behind him – to not get hit by another Chaos Spear. "If you knew of this bitch's plan...!," he started to threat, but a voice interrupted him. "Shads!"

Immediately, the seme whipped around to his uke. "Where's Silver?," Sonic asked, which let not only Shadow blink at him in confusion.

"S-Silver?," Shadow repeated, the energy surrounding him disappeared. "Yeah. You followed him and Mephiles, didn't you? How is he now?"

"He...er...he needs some rest, for a few hours, I guess.," the agent finally answered, his brain working again.

"I see, thanks for telling me. Now, should we go, before they close this place for the night?," the hero asked with a grin. That moment was still several hours away, but it did the trick.

Shadow nodded dumbly. "Alright, come on guys!," Sonic waved and turned on his heel to go to the building, but stopped, before he had taken a single step. "Hey, Blush!," he called up to her. "I'd like a second round one day."

Blush's face didn't betray any emotion. "You know, where to find me.," she just shrugged. "Alright, bye." With that, Sonic made his way over to the building, Shadow following him quickly.

The others, however, stayed, reluctantly. "This poison...it isn't going to harm Sonic, right?," Tails asked Mighty, whispering, just in case Shadow was still in an angry mood. "Don't worry. Blush's antidote works perfectly every time."

"But Sonic's not in the best condition, what if-" Tails stopped, not wanting to think further in that direction.

"Do you want to imply, that I am careless?," Blush grumbled, still in the air. "What Blush _tries_ to say, is that her antidote neutralizes the poison instantly, thanks to Sonic's fast metabolism, it goes even faster. You can mention it towards his doctor, but it should be gone now.," Mighty took over. "You should go now, I need to return to my post anyway.," he added.

Still a little worried, the friends complied. As Omega was too big for the doors, he had to wait next to them, like a strange statue.

Once the doors had closed, the armadillo rounded on the butterfly girl. "What the hell, Blush!?," he thundered.

Unimpressed, the girl landed a few feet away from him. "Just what were you thinking?" "What, can't I have some fun?," the girl smirked.

Mighty looked at her with a strange look. "This wasn't fun. It was planned. Sonic's metabolism is fast, but not _that_ fast, the poison wouldn't have worked this soon. If I had to guess, I'd say, that one of your sisters distracted us with the bullet-digging, while another one poisoned Sonic discreetly to weaken his defenses against your poison. And then, you only had to provoke him – an easy task for you, isn't it? – and add another dose of poison to his body to trigger a reaction. Why, Blush? Why did you do this?"

The girl sighed and flipped her short brown hair back. It looked like a normal, daily gesture, but it was actually a sign to her sisters, who had soundlessly appeared behind Mighty, ready to take him out.

Their clan-rules forbid it to let far too clever people live. They could ask, but never expect an answer. That he pried, that he came so close to the truth, to a practice of her clan, was a death penalty. They would simply stage an accident, easy as that – however, with the simple gesture, Blush had put the armadillo under her protection. And as she was the oldest of them here, she had absolute authority. As soundlessly, as they had come, they disappeared again.

Focusing on Mighty, she straightened. "I did it...because I might be looking for a mate." "Sonic's already taken.," Mighty answered immediately.

"Thanks, I wouldn't have guessed that by his mate trying to kill me." Blush rolled her eyes. "Besides, did you think, that I just pick someone as a mate and be done with it?" "Er..." "Ugh, men. My clan didn't stay this long on top, because we simply mated with the first wannabe we met. We _select_. And to do this, I need to _measure_. Your friend was just supposed to be another point on my scale. Too bad, I heard, that he could do much more than what I saw just now."

"Blush, my friends are NOT your experiments. Leave them alone from now on." He paused for a moment.

"Why do you want to mate anyway? Didn't you say, that assassins can't have mates, or something like that?"

Blush looked away. "That's true. But...my father might decide to make me a broodmother. That would be the end of my assassin-ways. I can't be both."

"Why should he do that? I thought, that you were the best!," Mighty asked, astounded. How often had she bragged with being 'her father's elite' and that she always would be?

"I was. Until...that happened.," Blush replied, something akin to stress for the first time seeping in her voice. She pointed to her wing, where, as Mighty knew, had two years ago been a hole.

"When you saved Scythe and me? What does that have to do with everything?," Mighty wondered.

Blush had recovered from the wounds after two days and immediately started training again to make up for the 'slacking'.

"Back then, I broke the most important rule of my clan..." "Er...never forget to clean your weapons after use?," Mighty asked, trying to remember the rules Blush sometimes let drop on random occasions and if she had ever pointed one out as the most important.

The butterfly facepalmed. "No, you idiot. The most important rule of an assassin is it to never risk your own life while protecting another.," she snapped impatiently.

"Blush, you wanted to protect us. You didn't think...," Mighty tried to soothe her. "And THAT'S a sin for my people. I could have died, you know? My father will decide soon and I'm very sure, that I know, how it will end."

With that being said, Blush turned around to the young hedgehog Tyler, who just carried a chair out for her, wanting to continue his polishing.

Thankfully, Mighty knew, that Blush could regulate easily, if the scales on her wings were poisonous or not, or he would be worried for the younger one's health. Besides, she liked Tyler, the hedgehog she had saved two years ago first, and wouldn't hurt him, ever.

Mighty watched her taking a seat, spreading out her wings and letting him start, talking with him and not even once looking over to him. He knew his friend good enough to guess, that she wouldn't say more about it, not now and not ever. It was unlike Blush to be so open, to show weakness. She wouldn't repeat a mistake twice, which was most likely the second most important rule of her clan.

If he just knew a way to help her! But she was absolutely obedient to her father, judging by how often she mentioned in her sentences 'My clan', or 'My father'. He should probably speak with the head of her clan and try to convince him to not do this. But Blush was always very closed up, when it came to her birthing place – it was beyond him, why the hell she didn't just call it her 'home' –, he had no idea, where it should be...

He stopped thinking with a crooked smile. He was really a masochist – he had just solved the problem of Shy (at least he hoped, that it was, if only for the time being) and already he was making the next problem to his. Well, he wouldn't want it any other way.

Getting a sudden idea to solve his problem, he whipped around and sprinted down the path he had come.


	5. 4: Welcome to the Uke Shelter!

**4: Welcome to the Uke Shelter!**

The foyer of the Uke Shelter was a big, light room. Chairs and small tables were on their left and right, forming between them a way leading towards a wooden reception desk at the back wall, in front of that stood three hedgehogs, on small steps poking out of the bottom. The three males were bouncing up and down in excitement.

The hedgehog, who they had seen before with Blush, came just out of a hallway on their right, carrying a chair and quickly crossing the room, while almost tripping over the chair's legs several times. Sonic contemplated helping him, but the male was already past them and out the door.

The friends came closer, stopping at a yellow line on the ground above the words _Please stay here for the privacy of other clients_. Even with the distance, though, the friends had no problem in listening in the talk.

A young, female voice, whose owner wasn't visible behind the hedgehogs, was clearly audible. "Yes. Yes, thank you. Alright, have a nice day."

There was a small silence, before the voice spoke up again. "Okay, guys, the reservation was made, everything's okay."

This let the trio in front of her cheer. "Billy, I let him reserve the room on your name, as you are the oldest. The hotel is close to the fair, in the shadow of the Ferris wheel. You can't miss it." "Alright.," the hedgehog in the middle with creamy white fur replied, nodding. "Good, then, have fun you three and enjoy your time!"

"THANKS, MALI!," all three replied in a happy chorus, turned around, jumped down the steps, ran past the friends and towards the exit, laughing and cheering on the way.

Sonic looked after the trio for a moment, before he joined his friends in their walk towards the desk.

Behind it sat a young human woman in her early twenties. Her light blond hair was tied loosely together at the level of her neck, a few loose strands hung in her dark green eyes, that seemed to illuminate her slight tan. She wore a light blue, almost white, wide dress without sleeves. A friendly smile was on her rosy lips.

"Hello.," she greeted, her voice warm and gentle. "Welcome to the Uke Shelter. May I help you?"

"Er...y-yes, I guess. You see, my brother is rather sick, we just don't know, what is wrong with him.," Tails spoke with the practiced ease of someone, who brought his adoptive brother pretty much regularly to hospitals all over the world.

"I see. One moment, please.," the woman replied and typed on her keyboard. "Our wards are currently all ready for new patients. Er...are you carrying?," the woman asked, her impressive eyes on Sonic, who flushed a little.

"N-no...," he stuttered, completely surprised by the question. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just, that pregnant ukes need usually a different care, than the not-carrying ones. I needed to make sure, so I know, which ward to send you to, you see?," the woman apologized. "It's alright, you just surprised me.," Sonic replied.

"Are you sure, that this is your answer?" Sonic practically froze upon hearing that and slowly, he turned towards Shadow, who looked at him inquiringly.

He hadn't just said that.

He hadn't.

"Of course is this my answer.," he slowly replied. "Sonic, you don't...you don't have to keep it a secret for me. You should think about you both now.," Shadow forced out.

Sonic's stomach dropped to his ankles. He...he really... So far, he had only assumed, that Shadow was thinking that. Now, he had a proof.

"Are you implying-!?," Amy started, but Sonic interrupted her. "Amy, Tails, would you check up on Omega?," he growled.

While Amy was oblivious to it, Tails felt and heard the rage in his brother's voice. A rage, that he had never before heard coming from Sonic, who took every taunt of Eggman's with a grin and a taunt of his own.

He didn't really know, what they were talking about, but something told him, that he didn't want to anyway. "Um, sure.," he quickly replied, grabbed Amy and flew them out, for once not listening to her complaints. The door closed behind them automatically, cutting off her words.

Once it was quiet, Sonic faced his mate. "Shadow, I am NOT pregnant!," he hissed. "Are you sure? How else would you explain your symptoms? And why are you distancing yourself from me, if it wouldn't be for that reason?"

"In case you haven't noticed it, yet – I'm distancing myself from EVERYONE, not just you!," Sonic snarled, keeping himself from screaming at the top of his lungs. "Everyone, but the guardian. Or why did you move to his place?," Shadow growled.

It was in this moment, that it clicked in Knuckles' brain. Rouge reacted quickly, but she had still trouble with keeping him from attacking the dark seme.

"Let go of me, I'll bash in his stupid face!," he raged, moving step by step closer, while the bat hung to his neck, her heels trying to dig somewhere in the floor, to have more leverage than her weight, that was only minimally stopping him.

Before he could shake her off, a shrill whistle echoed through the large room, that let the four mobians quickly cover their sensitive ears, until it was gone. With a slight ringing in their ears, they turned around to the human woman behind the desk, who just took the whistle from her lips.

"And everyone said, that having a whistle here was stupid.," she mumbled to herself, before she turned to the less than amused mobians.

"Sorry about that, but we are often having problems with fights and when I'm this close to the line of fire, I rather end them, before they escalate. Oh, and by the way." She turned to Sonic. "If it's any consolation for you, I'm pretty sure, that you aren't pregnant."

While Sonic looked at her confused, Shadow glared. "How would YOU know? You just sit here on your ass all day!," he snarled.

The woman gave him a dry look. "Right, I'm just sitting here. And I watch. I have seen several pregnant ukes and taken my time in watching their behavior – something you for sure didn't, you probably just searched for the symptoms on the internet, without verifying the result." Shadow's lips thinned.

The woman smirked. "Bullseye. I just watched the ukes coming and going from here – and I learned far more just by that. To your information: pregnant ukes would never distance themselves, especially not, when a human like me is present. Your instincts let you always keep up your guard around humans and that goes double for pregnant mobians."

A small silence followed. The woman seemed to be satisfied with Shadow's expression, because hers softened and she turned to Sonic again. "Sorry about the whistle and talking like that with your mate, but we have a strict 'No fighting in closed buildings'-policy and I know from experience, that a sharp sound is the only way to stop fights. And I really hate it, when men think they are smarter than me, when they apparently aren't.," she explained, her voice turning bored at the end.

"No worries.," Sonic replied with a grin, not noticing the dropped jaw of his mate. On whose side was he here!?

"Why did you ask this question in the first place? Is it even possible for ukes to get pregnant outside of mating season?," Knuckles asked gruffly, still a little miffed about the whole ordeal.

The woman looked at him. "Well, yes, of course. Ukes can, like female humans, get pregnant the whole year. During mating season, the chance is just better.," the woman replied. It didn't seem to surprise her, that he had asked that.

The eyes of everyone widened and suddenly, Sonic was VERY glad, that he had pushed Shadow away until now.

"I...didn't know that.," Tails said slowly. He and Amy had returned just in time to hear that, deeming it safe to get closer again. It surprised Tails a little, that they were suddenly all so calm again, but he was happy about it, still.

"Well, we are offering classes about all facets concerning semes and ukes, feel free to visit them.," the woman explained, holding out a few pink flyers to them, so that they could take them, if they wanted. Curiously, Sonic took one.

_Mystery 'Hedgehog'_, stood on the front. And under it: _Semes and ukes are neither monsters, nor gods. Visit our classes, organized by experienced ukes and semes, to learn more about them. _

The blue hero opened the folded piece of paper to look at the list there, his eyes flying over the names of the classes.

_History of ukes and semes_

_Ukes – Childhood and Puberty_

_Semes – Puberty and the Difference to ukes_

_Sexual education about and for ukes and semes_

_Pregnancy of ukes_

_Characteristics of ukes and semes: problems and how to overcome them_

_Family life with ukes and semes_

"Er...what do those numbers mean, those under the titles of the classes?," Tails asked, having read a flyer, too.

"Those are age limits. Not all of the classes are suited for kids, so we put those limits on them. If you have questions, that the classes don't answer for you, though, you can always call the phone numbers listed on the back, you'll get connected with someone, who can explain certain things to you, suited for your age.," the woman replied.

"Why are you offering those classes anyway?," Knuckles asked distrustfully. "Mainly for the families of the ukes living here. Ukes are for their families usually something scary, unknown. Those, who are willing to learn about it, are always welcome."

"So, you are housing ukes, who got thrown out of their homes, because they are ukes?," Shadow asked, raising a brow. "That's not the original purpose of the Uke Shelter, but it became it over time, yes."

"And the original purpose was?," Rouge pried. "Well, after the Island-incident," the woman didn't miss the wince of everyone, when she spoke those words and rather changed them, "after these...events, most of the hedgehogs struggled to return to normal life. John took it on himself to visit all victims a while after that had happened and he had to see, that almost all of the hedgehogs were mentally still...in this place."

"But why?," Tails asked, alarmed. Sonic hadn't have this problem...right? The woman looked down sadly. "You see, mobians are divided into predators and prey. The two groups act different in almost every way and hedgehogs belong to the prey-mobians. Those are... well, adapting to their surroundings, unlike predators, who adapt their surroundings to their needs."

"Are you trying to imply...?," Sonic asked, speechless. "I'm afraid so. Most of the hedgehogs were so used to what had been going on there, that they just kept doing it after being expelled from the hospital."

"...and...that means?," Sonic asked anxiously. The woman's expression saddened even more. "It had been a devastating sight at first, believe me. They just sat curled up somewhere in a corner, flinched at every movement and sound. They didn't eat, barely slept. They wound things like ropes or belts around their necks to imitate the collars. At times, they almost strangled themselves, when they kept the ends too long and they got stuck somewhere. They needed to be watched constantly, because they didn't even call for help, when they needed it. Most of them didn't speak a single syllable the whole day and they refused to wear clothes."

Although male mobians wore generally less clothing than mobian females, they were considered naked without gloves and/or socks (or shoes) and that was highly frowned up on in society. If an adult refused to wear clothes, he actually got arrested, so those hedgehogs had definitely a problem.

"The semes even became drug addicts. I don't know, what stuff they used there, but they tried everything to get close to that high.," the woman continued.

"This is all so horrible! Is there nothing you can do!?," Amy asked, tears of pity in her jade eyes.

The woman looked up at her and smiled. "Don't worry, everything's alright now. And all thanks to Dr. Ellen.," she explained.

The mobians perked up at the name. "Really? What did Kylie do?," Sonic asked curiously. "She had the genius idea to go around schools and kindergartens, that are nearby, and to ask, if some of the parents need a free daycare. Turned out, that some were actually glad for the offer and ready to try out the 'gruesome ukes'. Over time, there came more and more people and brought their children here."

"But...why did that help?," Sonic wondered. "Back in older days, when mobians stayed among their own species, hedgehogs lived in colonies. And it had been the job of ukes and females to take care of the children. Dr. Ellen knew that and brought children close to the ukes. In no time, they were too focused on teaching and protecting the little ones to remember the Island. They healed slowly, without really noticing it."

"But the children aren't even their own!," Amy argued. "True, but uke and female hedgehogs don't think that way. In the past, all children were considered those of the colony. Life was rough back then and it happened often, that children became orphans, before they could recognize their parents. To consider all children as everyone's, ensured, that they got raised properly anyway."

"And this really worked?," Sonic asked, still trying to understand this. Was this the reason, why he had adopted Tails so willingly back then?

"It did. The ukes couldn't just continue and sit around doing nothing – we had at first only the wildest and bratty children here, who nobody wanted to babysit. They couldn't afford a single minute of slack, until the parents returned, they needed to always keep their guards up to prevent the children from getting hurt. Little by little, their own characters started to shine through and in the time of a year, they had recovered to the point, that you can't tell anymore, who of them had been in this place, and who didn't."

"And what about the semes?," Tails asked, interested. "Oh, this canceled itself out. Semes are naturally protective over ukes and children – if they're theirs, or not. Back in older days, they protected everyone, after all. The fact, that here are humans and predator mobians, fired up their protective instincts and they automatically stopped taking drugs to be always aware. And when a few human and predator men started to train outside, they did the same, to never be weaker than them."

"And this was all Kylie's idea?," Amy asked, impressed. "Her idea and doing. She did everything in her power to help them. No wonder, that everyone wanted her to be the director."

"She hadn't been the director the whole time?," Tails asked, astounded. "No, that had been John at first, but he, well, he wasn't really suited for the job. He could never react properly to the needs of ukes and semes and they all came to Kylie, who had been the head nurse in the uke ward, to complain, because they knew, that she would have an idea of what to do. To make her the director, was just a logical consequence of that."

"And John is now the head nurse?," Tails asked and the woman chuckled. "We're often called crazy, but were definitely not lunatics. No, John is now some kind of janitor. He repairs things and helps out. He is pretty good in it, especially the technical stuff."

Tails nodded, he knew that. He and the human had, together with Eggman, hacked in Perringten's network two years ago, after all.

"Er...would it...well, be okay, if Kylie examines Sonic?," the young fox asked insecurely. Sonic frowned. If he was honest, he would actually prefer that. He had experienced himself, what a good person and doctor Kylie was.

The woman smiled, friendly, while she typed. "That's alright, and by the way not a really exotic request, many trust Dr. Ellen more, than our other doctors, although they have the same knowledge and talent. Let's see...there's no entry in her agenda, but that doesn't mean, that she is free necessarily. I'll try calling her, one moment, please."

She grabbed the telephone on her right and dialed, waiting for a good minute, before she hung up. "That's, what I thought, she is somewhere in the building. No worries, I'll call her mobile."

She took her own mobile, that had been on the desk next to her keyboard, and pressed a few keys, before she put the device to her ear, waiting patiently.

She had to wait for only about 40 seconds, before she straightened, obviously connected. "Dr. Ellen, it's Mali, I- Mina!? What are you doing with Dr. Ellen's mobile?," she asked, frowning.

She listened for a while. "Ah, I see. Sounds nasty. Will she take long? ...That's good. Could you relay a message for me? Thanks. Please tell her, that Sonic the Hedgehog is here and needs an examination. Yeah, I'll wait.," she said and covered the speaker of her mobile, looking up at her audience, who became a little worried by the one-sided conversation.

"Dr. Ellen is currently performing a surgery, but is almost done. It shouldn't be more than 20 or 30 mi- Er, yeah, I'm still there!," she quickly switched her attention back to her mobile, taking her hand off. "Uhuh. Uhuh. Yeah, sure, I'll relay the message... Hm? Well, I guess, I could do that. Fire away.," she shrugged.

She listened and nodded some more. "Are you sure I should-? Well, okay. Bye, Mina, and thanks." She hung up and looked up once more. "Dr. Ellen will be here in about 20 to 30 minutes. And she asked me to relay a message to you: 'Welcome – and behave yourselves, Shadow and Knuckles!'."

Said males' jaws dropped, while Rouge snorted and put a hand in front of her mouth to muffle her giggles. This was Kylie, alright.

"How does she even know, that we are here, too?," Knuckles asked incredulously. Shadow could only agree – the woman could guess, that he as Sonic's mate would accompany him, but how did she know, that the echidna came here, too? This human never ceased to surprise him...

"Beats me.," the woman shrugged. "You may take a seat, if you like.," she explained, gesturing to the chairs between her desk and the entrance.

"Thanks, er...Mali?," Tails more asked than said. "It's Malissa, but everyone calls me Mali. Feel free to do the same.," the woman smiled and the mobians went to take a seat.

Sonic sat himself on the left side from the entrance, after he had seen his friends all going to the right. Since the chairs were all bolted to the ground and couldn't be moved, his instincts protested against the consequential closeness.

He sat as close to the opposite seats as possible, but he knew, that his friends were looking at him right now with different stages of hurt in their eyes.

Trying to ignore it, he looked ahead and at Mali, who was silently humming to herself and typing away.

* * *

Mali looked up, when steps became audible, and so did the friends, curious about what would happen now.

From a hallway to their left came a tall male human with short blonde hair and blue-green eyes in his pale face. He wore a white, long sleeved shirt, brown, obviously polished, shoes and simple blue jeans.

Without acknowledging the mobians, he strode over to the reception desk, where Mali was trying to quickly brush the strands of her hair falling in her face behind her ears, but failed due to being this hectic all of a sudden.

The male reached her desk and leaned against it. "Hello, Mali.," he grinned gently, his voice a little dark, but not much. "H-hello...," Mali stuttered back, blushing hard. "Did my orders come already?," he asked.

"Oh, er-" Mali quickly tried to type on her keyboard, but judging by the small curses the mobians could hear, she wasn't very successful.

After a good minute of fruitless fumbling, she had eventually found the desired information. "N-not yet.," she explained, blushing still.

The male sighed in disappointment. "That's too bad." He pushed himself off the desk. "I'll be going, then. Please inform me, when they arrive." "S-sure.," Mali quickly answered. "Thank you. Goodbye." He turned and walked back the way he came.

He was just gone, when Mali practically deflated, hiding her most likely hot face in her cupped hands. It was easy to guess her thoughts from here – _Chaos, this has been embarrassing_.

Sonic wanted to ask, what this human was doing here, when a hum, different to her own before, was suddenly audible and Mali straightened, fighting to get the red off her face and to find her composure again, before turning to her left, from that came the sound.

From a hallway going off to the mobians' right emerged a hedgehog. He had shiny, yellow fur and dark violet eyes.

Sonic couldn't help but blink at his clothes – although he was definitely male, he wore a light violet skirt, that reached his knees, and a top of the same color, that ended on the level of his last pair of ribs. His belly, with a peach colored swirl-pattern there, was free between the two articles of clothing. The back of his shirt, that was for some reason longer than the front, went over clearly blunted back quills and stopped a bit over his tail, letting him look, as if he wore a cape. The quills on the back of his head, that stood straight and pointed to all sides, were short, but looked still sharp. He walked with bare feet, but considering his other clothes, he was FAR from being seen as naked.

He held two big mugs of a steaming liquid in his white gloved hands and was apparently on his way towards Mali, but he stopped suddenly, his head turned to where Sonic's friends were sitting.

The hero turned in the same direction and saw Tails, Amy and Knuckles staring openly at the hedgehog, their jaws slack. Shadow and Rouge were a little more mature, but they also looked funnily at the new hedgehog.

"Um...hi?," the stranger started nervously, his ears pressed to his skull insecurely. "Don't worry, it's just your attire, I think.," Mali reassured him.

The hedgehog blinked and looked down on himself, as if only now realizing, what he wore, his ears straightening again. "Oh, that." He calmed down noticeably, looked up and at his audience. "You don't need to be surprised, some ukes actually like crossdressing, to play with the thought of being halfway female. Here, in the Shelter, we feel safe enough to do that, outside of it we rather don't. You'll probably meet some more like me, while you are here.," the male explained with a relaxed smile, as if he was simply summarizing his favorite book, and turned back to go the final steps to Mali.

"Here you go." He placed both mugs on the desk between them and turned one, so that Mali could grab it easily. "Thanks."

While the hedgehog jumped to sit next to his mug on the top of the desk with apparently practiced ease, Mali took the other and took a whiff of the liquid. "Hmmm...cinnamon tea, my favorite. You're a lifesaver.," she smiled and took a careful sip. Setting it down for now, she looked up at the hedgehog. "So, how is the strongest being in the universe?," she asked. The male chuckled. "You tell me."

It was apparently a private joke, something they had someday started to call the other and kept that way, but Sonic couldn't help and feel a little curious as to why they called themselves this of all possible nicknames there were.

"You first.," Mali insisted. "I'm fine, just a little annoyed. The group was a bit hard to settle down today." He shook his head.

"Not the best conditions for a meditation, huh?," Mali giggled. "Yeah. Thanks for suffering with me.," the male said sarcastically, but grinned, too. "What about you? I can still see a certain red hue there...," he trailed off. Immediately, Mali blushed again.

"Awww, who is it? John, or Eden?," the male cooed. "Eden.," the woman sighed, quickly giving up. "Ah, I see. He's handsome, isn't he?," he smiled, but it was clear, that he didn't think like that, he was just trying to make a conversation.

Mali's blush deepened and she drank a big gulp of her tea. "He is, but he would never care like this for me, so I rather don't dwell on it.," she finally explained.

The male frowned at her dampened mood, but decided not to pry. "Anything else happened today?," he asked instead.

"The usual, really.," she shrugged, but seemed glad for the change of topic. "Okay, what's wrong?," the hedgehog asked and upon seeing her confused face, he added. "Come on, I know you, how you sound, when something upsets you, and it's not Eden. Out with it, what's wrong?"

Mali sighed. "Alright, alright. Here." She pulled out a folded piece of paper hidden under her keyboard and gave it to him.

Frowning, the hedgehog took the paper and unfolded it to read over the writing there. His frown deepened, the farther he came.

"You know, letters like these let me doubt justice.," he finally growled. "I mean, what the hell!?" "Apparently, everyone has a right to do this.," Mali shrugged. "But- him!? There should be a law against this!"

Sonic, who had followed the talk with discrete interest, blinked, when he suddenly saw something behind the yellow hedgehog, that he hadn't noticed before.

It was another one, standing behind him in the air. He had dark yellow, almost black, fur and wore the same clothes as the light one did, although his looked rather ragged. He also had the exact same quill style and the same height and figure, as if they were identical twins.

He just stood hovering in the air with his arms crossed, staring at the back of the other hedgehog's head, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

What stroke Sonic as odd, besides this sudden appearance, was, that he seemed to be transparent.

In that moment, the floating hedgehog seemed to notice his staring, because he turned around to him.

Sonic jumped up with a gasp. The new hedgehog had white glowing eyes and there were definitely bloodstains on his front, face and razor sharp teeth, that were in his brightly, evilly grinning mouth.

"Is something the matter?," a voice asked and he snapped his head over to the light hedgehog, who looked at him, confused, together with Mali and his friends. He looked back to where the scary male had been – but he was gone.

"I...er..." He racked his head for an excuse. "Er...is there a restroom I may use?," he asked quickly. "Sure. Just turn around and go in the hallway, turn to the left and then it's the third door on the right.," Mali explained.

"Thanks." Sonic hurried to the pointed direction, running faster and faster, until he had reached the room and he quickly made his way in and slammed the door shut behind him, leaning against it for a moment. He stood in a spacious bathroom with white small tiles on all walls, bigger ones of the same color on the floor, four closed cabins on his right and three sinks on his left.

He moved over to the sinks and came to a stand in front of the first, leaning with both hands on its edges and staring at his figure in the mirror.

He hadn't seen himself in a while now – Knuckles didn't have a mirror and he would have had a fit, if he would have used the Master Emerald for that.

To be honest, he was currently not a pretty sight. His fur didn't shine as much as usual, his eyes were dull with exhaustion and there were dark rings under them. He had barely noticeably lost a little weight, but it wasn't enough yet to be concerned. His muscles had shrunken due to the lack of training, but it wasn't that bad, yet, too. Right now, he was also deathly pale, thanks to...whatever he had seen there.

He pulled off his gloves, started the water, cupped a little amount in his hands and used it to wash his face. The cold water on his skin helped him to regain his composure.

He straightened and looked at his now dripping face. Just what in _hell _had he seen? Had this... hedgehog... been there, invisible for everyone, but him? Or could he add hallucinations to his symptoms now? Maybe he could ask the yellow hedgehog, if he knew this guy...

He smirked to himself. Yeah, that would go over well: 'Excuse me, do you know any transparent, bloodstained hedgehogs, that look otherwise like you?'. He saw this already going to happen.

Upon hearing a single knock against the door and a muffled "Sonic?," he grabbed one of the clean towels hanging between the sinks and dried himself off, while the door opened and closed. He put the towel down to see Tails standing a few feet away from him, looking concerned.

"Are you okay?," the fox asked, while Sonic put the towel back. "Yeah, I guess. Just...I don't really know.," Sonic ended lamely.

"What happened?," Tails asked, raising a brow. "I'm not sure. Say, did you see something...odd, before I jumped up?" "Something odd? Like what?" "Well, one...more person in the room?"

Tails looked at him. "There hasn't been anyone, but us, Mali and this hedgehog.," he explained slowly, obviously confused.

"Yeah, I feared that.," Sonic sighed, putting on his gloves again and rubbing his hurting forehead.

"Why? What's wrong?," Tails asked, worried. "I have apparently hallucinations now, too. I saw another hedgehog there." "Do you have a fever again?," Tails asked, his worry growing. Since Sonic had touched his face just a minute ago while washing it, he could answer this question easily. "No."

Tails' frown deepened. "I so hope, that Kylie can help you.," he muttered. He perked up suddenly and looked over his shoulder. "Weird, where's Shadow? He wanted to check up on you, too! I hope he didn't start a fight with Knux and Amy after all.," he added and Sonic suddenly felt an annoyance, as if he was dealing with an unruly child, that kept going against his rules despite his scolding.

He was actually glad, that Tails was for the most part well-behaved (unless he was working on an 'important project', that let him forget about eating, sleeping, staying hydrated, hygiene, social contacts and fresh air), since Shadow, Amy and Knux were currently making up for that.

"Let's go.," he decided and Tails went out the door first, with Sonic following shortly after. In the hallway, they saw Knuckles, Shadow and Amy, standing a little away from the restroom with the yellow hedgehog, who had his back to them.

"-totally crazy.," they heard Knuckles say, when they came closer. "Why should someone put _herbs_ in a _door_?"

"To ward off semes.," the hedgehog explained patiently. "Some herbs have a scent, that is unbearable for semes, it stinks so badly, that no seme can come close to them without feeling nauseous. The weaker ones even pass out, if they aren't careful enough. Ukes and females know and use those herbs for ages now."

"But why? Don't they want their mates?," Shadow wondered. "Of course they want their mates, but not the ones, who try to steal them off. It's actually quite normal for semes trying to get already mated ukes and females away from their semes, when they aren't around. It's a pretty mean thing, but not changeable. That's instincts, you know? In the past, many ukes and females carried those stinking herbs with them, when their mates were away and they washed themselves off it, when they returned. We use these herbs here to create places, where the ukes, and at times the females, can retreat to, to avoid the advances of the semes – and that includes the restrooms."

"Still, you could have warned us, that the door would stink like a rotting corpse.," Shadow growled.

"That's, what Mali had tried to tell you, had you listened for two more seconds.," the light male told them, as if chastising stubborn children.

"Don't the herbs lose their scent after a while?," Tails asked, drawing attention to him and Sonic.

The blue hero saw Knuckles and Shadow tense and look him over, before they both visibly relaxed upon seeing him unharmed. Sonic really wondered about this behavior from Knuckles – Shadow was his boyfriend, he had an excuse, but the guardian was also oddly concerned...

"They do, that's why we have a carpentry, that is specialized on building those special doors and replaces them regularly.," the hedgehog explained.

"I wonder, though, why I didn't smell anything. Does that mean, that I'm an uke?," Tails asked, a little worried. He wasn't so sure, if that was a good thing.

The yellow hedgehog chuckled fondly and bent down to him. "It means, that you are a child, who hasn't hit puberty, yet. Until they reach puberty, all male children are considered ukes, they develop during puberty to semes...well, in the case of hedgehogs, not always. How old are you?," he asked. "Eleven.," Tails answered.

"Then it might take a while, until you grow up, so don't worry, okay?," the hedgehog smiled and patted his head a bit, before straightening and looking at Sonic.

"Are you feeling better?," he asked with genuine concern, that surprised the hero – they didn't know each other, after all. "Um, yeah, thanks.," he replied. The male, who was a bit older than him, it seemed, smiled. "That's good. Oh, where are my manners today? My name is Zen, nice to meet you."

He stretched out his hand to Sonic and out of the habit, he wanted to grab it, but jerked his hand back at the last moment, holding it to his chest, as if he needed to protect it. "Sorry, I'm currently not... very touchy. But it's nice to meet you, too, really. I'm Sonic.," he replied sheepishly.

The male smiled and let his hand fall. "I'm honored to be in the presence of such a strong person.," he stated calmly, which was the most interesting way of complimenting him so far. At least he didn't faint or started to hyperventilate, or something like that, like a fangirl usually would.

Zen didn't seem to expect an answer, because he already continued, "It was nice to meet you, maybe I'll see you around. Goodbye." Nodding friendly to everyone, he turned to walk down the hallway and back to the foyer.

"Is really everything okay again?," Shadow asked, just when Zen had turned the corner. "Yeah, don't worry. Nothing serious.," Sonic replied, which wasn't a lie. Hallucinations weren't something concerning in his opinion – especially, since Kylie would for sure find a solution for that, he trusted her.

* * *

They made their way back to the foyer, Sonic trailing behind everyone else to keep a comfortable distance.

Zen and Mali were engaged in a talk about some friend of theirs and Sonic, who had taken his seat again, found himself watching Zen intently, almost willing the hallucination to return.

Realizing his thought process in the next minute, he shook his head and looked away from them, trying to distract himself.

The distraction came abruptly, when the sound of loud shooting broke the almost-silence. Shadow was the first one to jump up and run out, with Rouge following closely behind – they would recognize Omega's gunfire everywhere.

Sonic didn't wait to follow Shadow and they came out of the strangely already open door at the same time, seeing Omega lying on the ground to their right with Blush standing on him, staring at the two males. "Was this your idea!?," she snarled, pointing to their left.

Sonic followed her finger and saw a turquoise hedgehog crouching low, his hands over his ears and whimpering. A transparent sphere was around him, plastered with countless bullets on the side closer to the robot, stuck in whatever material the sphere was out of.

Shadow's eyes widened – Omega was unable to hurt sentient beings, it was against his programming! Why should he attack this hedgehog? Even if the mobian would have attacked first, Omega would have used his force fields to keep the attacker at bay and called his colleagues, who could actually fight against another living being. So why had he attacked?

"HEY! ARE YOU CRAZY!? You could have hit me!," the answer to his question piped up a moment later, in the form of the small black painted robot Bokkun, who had been hidden behind the light blue male. Since he had apparently also crouched low until now, he had been hidden by the taller male easily. As he was in the exact same sphere, it was clear, that the hedgehog had protected the robot, when Omega had attacked.

The largest member of Team Dark saw all of Eggman's creations as his sworn enemies (which was ironic, seeing, that he was one himself) and attacked them ruthlessly on sight.

The turquoise male had probably been just in the way – Omega wasn't exactly programmed on preventing collateral damage. Usually, keeping innocents out of danger (including those dangers posed by other teammates) was Shadow's and Rouge's task during their missions.

Blush used her wings to bring her in the air and flew over to the hedgehog she had talked with before. He also knelt on the ground, shivering and was, as Shadow noticed, in one line with Omega, Bokkun and the turquoise male. The chair he had carried out before lay on the ground.

She knelt down next to him. "Did you get hit?," she asked, but he didn't react. When she touched his shoulder, he jumped up, looking at her frightened, before he relaxed and pointed to his ears, shaking his head.

Blush winced. Most mobians had usually very sensitive ears and loud noise could easily get them temporarily – or permanently – deaf. Thanks to her feelers being her ears, that she could 'cut off' from hearing, whenever she wanted, she hadn't needed to cover her ears.

Picking up the male to get him to the ward, she glared at Shadow, as if he had programmed the robot personally. "Dismantle this thing, bring it away or I'll let my sisters let it disappear forever. Choose." With that, she marched past them and inside.

"What are you even doing here?," Shadow growled at the small robot. "Are you spying for Eggman?"

Bokkun scowled and put his small fists to his hips. "I don't belong to-" He stopped, seeming to fight with his own tongue, before he muttered, "-th-that man."

Sonic could guess, that Eggman prevented his more intelligent robots from talking ill about him by programming them accordingly. "I'm Kylie's now.," he added proudly.

Well, that wasn't so surprising – the robot had been infatuated with the human female the last time he had seen both.

The sound of whimpering let him return his attention to the hedgehog next to the small robot. The turquoise male was still in his position, he hadn't moved from the spot.

Sonic wanted to go to him and try to calm him, but an outstretched yellow arm stopped him. "Don't go any closer to him, please." Zen's voice was unusually serious for someone, who seemed so easy and relaxed most of the time.

He stared at the light blue male and carefully went closer to him, setting himself on his ankles just outside the sphere.

Now, that Sonic looked at the sphere closer...it looked like the one this girl Kari had been stuck in...

"Hey.," he called gently, but the male flinched, as if he had screamed at him. "Are you hurt?," Zen asked, not mentioning his reaction from earlier. There wasn't a reaction this time, the hedgehog just stayed in the same position.

"What happened here?," a new voice asked and everyone looked up to see a hedgehog with dark red fur hurrying over. He missed a large chunk of his right ear and big scars were going over his whole body. He wore black sneakers and gloves.

The turquoise hedgehog moved for the first time upon hearing the voice, he sat up on his knees immediately, with the sphere popping like a giant bubble and the bullets falling clattering to the ground.

The red hedgehog slowed down and stopped in front of the shivering, kneeling, turquoise one, who wore nothing but a beige colored, long fabric, wrapped around him from the armpits to the knees. "M-Master...I-I'm s-sorry...," the blue male whimpered, not looking up. Sonic blinked. Did he hear that correctly!?

"What happened?," the red hedgehog replied, apparently not surprised to be addressed like that.

"A robot malfunctioned.," Zen answered for the turquoise one, straightening. The red hedgehog's blue eyes appeared to be ablaze with fury immediately. "What!? Why did you allow that!?," he shouted at the yellow male, who quickly pressed his ears to his skull in a submissive way.

"This was nobody's fault, technology just sometimes malfunctions.," he explained in such a natural way, as if that was the real explanation.

The apparently older red hedgehog scowled, before turning his attention towards the still kneeling male. "How did you do this?," he asked, gesturing to the bullets on the ground. The addressed male didn't look up still. "I...I don't know. I just...do it. I can do this, since I remember."

The red hedgehog fell on his knees in front of the blue one. "But why?," he asked, his voice suddenly trembling and broken. "Why did you never protect yourself before, Veit!?" There was pain audible in his voice.

The turquoise male, apparently Veit – which was a strange name, sounding like 'fight', which didn't fit at all –, seemed to shrink in himself. "M-Master...n-never allowed m-me...," he whimpered, as if he feared punishment for this answer – and the one he had answered, did really look more furious, however, he made no attempt of harming Veit in any way. He seemed to be as sad as he was angry.

"Tebian?," Zen asked carefully. The red male's, apparently Tebian's, head whipped up. "WHAT!?," he snarled, letting Veit flinch.

Zen swallowed. "M-maybe you should bring him to the ward. Just to make sure, that he really didn't get hurt.," he gently suggested.

Tebian scrutinized him for a moment, before he turned back to Veit. "Why did you show this ability now?," he asked.

Veit straightened a little. "R-robots...are built...they don't...have a free will...th-they are s-slaves themselves...," he mumbled.

"Hey, I'm not a slave, got it!?," Bokkun complained loudly, making the other flinch in fright again.

"Bokkun.," Zen told him with a strict voice and the robot looked at him. "Veit just put you to his level. He sees you as an equal.," he explained, sounding much gentler again and smiling softly. Bokkun blinked. "Oh."

Tebian stood up. "Stand up, I want you to get checked through.," he ordered. "Yes, Master." Veit stood up in one fluid movement and turned to walk in the building, his head hung low submissively, not looking at anyone.

Sonic couldn't stop staring after him and at his neck, around that wound a brown leather collar. Were this the collared mobians, that they had read about on the sign!?

Tebian went to follow him, but had a barrier in the form of Sonic suddenly in his way. He took a step back in surprise, rubbing his eyes, as if he had gotten dust in them.

"How can you talk with him like that? He is a living, talking creature, like you!," Sonic accused, his quills bristling. "No, he isn't.," the male replied, still rubbing and blinking his eyes. "He's a slave, easy as that."

Before Sonic could explode in his face, Zen quickly interfered. "Oh, right, I haven't told you about this, yet, right?," he quickly asked, cutting off Sonic, forcing a sheepish laugh. "Sorry, Tebian, they're new, I'll explain it to them."

"You better do. One more question, though." Tebian frowned at Sonic. "Which color does his fur have?," he asked, as if he wasn't sure of it. His voice had a strange sound to it.

"Why, green of course.," Zen answered immediately, which let everyone turn quickly to Sonic, including the hero himself, who, with a hint of panic, looked down on himself, but found himself still as blue as ever. "Yeah, I thought so.," Tebian replied and went past the friends and inside.

The doors closed and Zen pretty much deflated, a hand over his heart. "One of these days I'm going to get a heart attack.," he muttered and looked up into some very confused faces.

He smiled nervously. "Er...I'm guessing, that I have a lot of explaining to do there, huh?," he asked.

"Yeah, you do. What is it with this Veit being called a slave?," Sonic asked, his voice strained and angry.

Zen suppressed a smirk. Figures, that he would ask about that first. "As far as I know it, slavery is illegal, isn't it?," Tails added.

"Here it is, of course, but Veit was born in a small, independent desert kingdom called 'Saha'. There, slavery is completely natural. The society is divided in two groups only – the rich people, who have more money, than they can possibly ever spend, and the poor ones, whose only hope for a change is it to be made a slave by one of the rich ones." "And how did he come here then?," Knuckles wondered.

"John brought a good dozen of slaves here with him. Don't ask me, why he was there in the first place.," Zen shrugged.

"John got them? Why should he be interested in getting slaves?," Tails wondered. "He had no other choice. If John hadn't bought them, they would be dead now. They were in the process of getting publicly executed, when he bought them.," Zen explained.

"What!? Why!?," Amy asked, horrified. "Tebian because of murder and the eleven slaves, because their masters died.," Zen explained.

"Because their masters died? So it wasn't murder, or their fault? Why should they be executed then?," Rouge asked with a raised brow.

"In Veit's case, it was murder, Tebian had killed his master. It is customary there to kill the slaves, if they live longer than their masters either way."

Upon the horrified looks he got, he added, "I couldn't believe it either, so I did some research. Apparently, it was a tradition, after a master died, to also kill his slaves, because they would be thrown into poverty again otherwise, which would be just cruel on them. Back then, however, they used a fast working poison to kill them swiftly and painlessly. The tradition changed over time and the people started to punish the slaves one last time for outliving their masters, although that isn't really their fault. These masters are just so lazy. They don't do anything by themselves anymore, they are having slaves for every single move, which is why they are all obscenely fat and die often, before they turn fifty, no matter how many doctors they import from outside the kingdom." He shook his head disapprovingly.

"So John bought them to save them – but why didn't he free them? Why are they still treated like slaves?," Sonic asked, not understanding this in the slightest.

"Sadly, he tried – and failed. Some of them, like Veit, were born into slavery, he doesn't know, what freedom is. And the others equal freedom with homelessness, cold, starvation and the uncertainty, if they are still there tomorrow, or have died already. Although they often got treated like dirt in slavery, they had a roof above their heads and three meals a day. Sad as it is, they actually believe, that their masters saved them from death and that they will die without someone telling them what to do and taking care of their needs."

"So...what did you do?," Tails asked carefully. "We got each of them a 'master', someone, who will treat them with the respect they deserve and ease them slowly in the idea of freedom."

"And this Tebian is the master of this Veit? Not the best choice, if you ask me.," Sonic growled.

Zen chuckled weakly. "He actually loves Veit very much. He killed his former master to protect him. I can imagine, why you think otherwise, but he just talked like this with you earlier, because he hoped to provoke you. He confused you with a seme and would have liked to start a fight with you. He loves it to fight."

"Why did he think I was a seme?," Sonic asked, confused. "Well, Veit is an uke and very submissive, so he thinks, that everyone, who doesn't submit to him, is a seme."

"Did you act this submissive because of that?," Knuckles asked. "Yeah. It's better not to provoke him. Tebian can be very dangerous and his mood drops very quickly. To top it off, he doesn't care about anyone, who gets hurt in the process of his fights, even if it's an innocent."

"Okay...and what was that with Sonic's fur? Why did you say, that it was green?," Tails asked.

Zen scratched his quills, looking embarrassed for some reason. "Well, he hates the color blue. And I mean, he really HATES it. In 'Saha', it is tradition, that the rich people dye their furs blue, because that is the color of wealth. Tebian can't see blue fur, feathers or scales without wanting to kill him or her."

"But Sonic _has_ blue fur. Why didn't he see that? Sonic stood right in front of him!," Amy asked confused.

Zen blushed deeply. "I...well, I manipulated his sight a little." Seeing the even more confused faces, he explained, "I have the ability to manipulate peoples' minds. I can confuse everyone's five senses as much as I want it. I let Tebian think, that he just imagined you having blue fur and that it's actually green. Since you appeared so suddenly in front of him, I had to take action – he would have ignored you otherwise and just followed Veit.," Zen added.

Sonic shrugged. He wouldn't apologize for speaking his mind – he couldn't have just stayed watching quietly how someone was treated as something less than a mobian being.

"Will he think that with the different fur color forever now?," Knuckles asked, stubbornly refusing to show, how surprised he was by the hedgehog's ability.

"No, he should be out of my range already. Once someone I had in my 'mental clutches' is about 20 meters away from me, all of my illusions disappear.," Zen explained.

"You _are _aware of the fact, that he might come back, before we are gone, right?," Shadow growled. To think, that someone could harm his love was provoking _him_ majorly. "I'm counting on Mali distracting him long enough. Or I'll just stick around you for the day.," Zen shrugged.

Sonic noticed, that Shadow wasn't calmed by that at all. "Relax, Shads. Let's just go back inside, or Kylie searches for us uselessly.", he told him. Shadow didn't seem convinced, but nodded, still scowling.

Sonic was just about to turn around and go back inside, when a scream close to him let him whip around to see Amy kneeling on the ground, splattered with blood all over her front.

He was at her side a second later. "What happened!?," he asked alarmed. "I-I just wanted to h-help Bokkun with the packages and letters. A-and then, the lid popped open and this bloody thing flew out and hit me!," she sobbed, trembling from the shock.

Sonic looked around, only now seeing the letters and small packages littering the grass and the big bag, in that were more, next to that stood Bokkun, collecting in letters, too and putting them back in it. Apparently, he had tried to bring the bag inside the building, before he had gotten attacked by Omega. This would explain, why they had been able to hear the gunfire and why the doors had been opened, when they had run out – the doors had already opened, because he had been so close to them. The sudden attack had caused him to let it drop and the contents to get spilled.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. We sadly get this kind of mail every day. It gets scanned inside the building for things like that, but Bokkun was interrupted, before he could reach the right room.," Zen explained regretfully, while he carefully picked up the object, that had soiled Amy. It was a dead feral hedgehog, drenched in far more blood, than its little body could possibly hold, and it had a large knife through its body. "I wish, that they wouldn't kill innocent animals for their threats.," he muttered.

"If you get those threats regularly, why don't you just go to the police?," Rouge asked. Zen laughed bitterly. "The police of the city here doesn't care about us, they tolerate us...barely. Some use every chance to frame us ukes for every single crime going on here. Someone robbed a store – ten minutes later, police men are here and going through every single room. Someone didn't pay the bill – it was 'miraculously' every time a hedgehog. That happens 3-4 times a week." Now Sonic knew, why they had so many lawyers.

"Did you try to go to GUN?," Shadow asked with a raised brow. It was hard to believe, that someone as stubborn as Kylie just let this happen without fighting back. "Kylie tried, but those guys are just incompetent, they don't get the point. Well, she said, that the best team for this would be unavailable anyway.," he shrugged. Shadow's eyes widened – had she talked about them?

Before he could ask, a light flashed and a very pale looking Shy appeared between the yellow male and Amy. She had dark rings under her eyes and her hair and clothes, a pair of short jeans and a dirty white t-shirt, were ruffled, as if she had just come out of bed after a less than relaxing sleep.

Her rather empty green eyes found the bloody hedgette easily and she stretched out her arm towards her.

Amy's breath hitched, when the blood started to fly off her and to collect itself in the human girl's hand. It was a mere minute, before the blood was completely gone off Amy's body and in a ball on Shy's hand.

"There. I can't do anything against the smell, though.," the girl explained. "Th-thank you.," Amy sniffed. "No problem. Your upset aura wouldn't have let me sleep anyway.," Shy shrugged, while a small typhoon grabbed the remaining letters and packages and threw them in the bag. "There, all done."

"Hey, I wanted to do that!," the small robot complained. "So what? Just tell Kylie you did.," Shy shrugged. "But I'm not programmed on lying.," Bokkun whined.

"Then tell her I did your job, she'll understand.," the girl muttered annoyed. Bokkun wasn't the most intelligent robot, it was quite obvious, but it still went on her nerves.

Zen gasped, when the dead hedgehog in his hands got enclosed by a ball of blood and flew in Shy's hand, his own hands clean again. "I'll take care of that.," she stated simply.

"Wait a minute!," Knuckles called quickly, realizing, that she would disappear any second now.

Shy stopped and turned around to him. "What is it?," she asked, bored. "I'd like to know, what happened on the Island two years ago."

Sonic watched, how the girl stiffened. "How did you do this? How did you give Sonic this form? He never before showed it and you were the only one close enough.," Knuckles explained his question.

Shy let the two balls of blood go, playing with them, letting them fly through the air with ease, while she talked, "I didn't do anything. I know, that you think that and I know why you think that, too."

She was well aware of the fact, that Sonic still thought she was responsible for this, she hadn't have the chance to tell him, that she wasn't.

"All I did was trying to stop the bleeding and then there was this light, not mine, though. We were in there for a bit, before the over-sized Chaos Emeralds appeared..."

"Over-sized Chaos Emeralds?," the friends interrupted her in an unintentional chorus. "Well, yeah. I've seen the stones before, in the temple – those I saw later were as big as this big emerald in the middle, in the temple." "That's impossible.," Knuckles breathed.

Shy shrugged. "That was, what I saw. No more, no less." With that, she disappeared, before anyone could hold her back.

Knuckles didn't even notice it, he was too deep in thought. He knew every ancient picture his ancestors had left on Angel Island – his only entertainment for the years he hadn't known Sonic and the others – and in none of them had been depicted seven Chaos Emeralds as big as the Master...

"-ease?" The half-word let the guardian snap out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Bokkun, carrying the big bag, in front of him. The little robot scowled at him, before turning to a brightly grinning Rouge. "You said, that saying _please_ would help!," he said accusingly. "But he's still in the way!"

It was then, that Knuckles realized, that he was the only one standing still in the entrance, blocking the robot's path, the others had already moved to the side. Hiding his flushed face, he hurried to the side, allowing Bokkun to pass him.

"Not so fast, huh, Knuckie?," Rouge smirked. "Shut up!," the guardian hissed annoyed. "Um...Knux...did you ever...well, hear of this? What Shy said, I mean?," Tails asked carefully.

He could see, that Knuckles was going through his memory, but also, that he was rather overwhelmed by her information, so he was better careful not to upset his friend more.

Knuckles frowned and stayed quiet a little longer, before he shook his head. "No. Whatever the girl had seen, I haven't ever heard of it or seen it on the ancient pictures.," he explained slowly.

"Well, I believe her.," Sonic muttered absentmindedly. He still remembered the unnatural feeling he had had after waking up, how he had felt above the clouds, godly strong. It wasn't something he needed all the time, but back then, it had been just awesome.

To avoid the thoughts, that just let his head hurt, Shadow turned his attention to Omega, who was still lying quietly on the ground. "Omega?," he called the robot, but received no answer.

"Knowing Blush, she did a number on him and he needs to run a diagnosis program.," Rouge grinned and joined her two partners.

They both knew, that Omega would immediately shut himself down, if his sensors pointed out an irregularity. As his core was out of unstable elements, carefulness was mandatory. Which was, why he shut himself down, when he got damaged remotely and deemed the situation safe enough – when the fight was over, or Shadow was close, whatever came first – to run a diagnosis on himself. Usually, this didn't take long, just a few minutes at best. That it took this long already meant, that the butterfly indeed did some damage.

Looking over the robot, Shadow found no holes originating from her needles, but he had no doubt, that the assassin had other ways of attacking.

Without further thinking about it, he rolled the robot on his front, so that he could stand up on his own, whenever he was done. If he was on his back, he was pretty much helpless with trying to stand up.

Lost in their own thoughts, the friends returned eventually to the now empty foyer. Mali – and for some reason, her chair, too – was gone and Zen was nowhere to be seen, either. Apparently, he trusted the woman to keep this Tebian away from Sonic.

"It can't be that much longer, until Kylie comes.," Tails explained, looking on his watch. He looked up, when he heard steps coming closer, but it was just a completely black furred male hedgehog, who carried a small laptop on his flat hand, typing on it with the other, while he walked towards the reception desk.

He stopped in front of it and looked up, frowning, when he didn't discover Mali. He shook his head disapprovingly, turned back to his laptop, while he leaned against the desk and muttered something under his breath about the woman never being there, when she needed to be.

Just before the friends could choose to ignore him, the male suddenly cursed loudly and started to shake his laptop furiously, there was obviously a problem with it.

Tails hesitated for a moment, before he carefully went closer to the male. "Um...do you need help?," he asked. Technology was his talent, so maybe he could lend a hand.

The male looked up and over to him, growling, his light blue eyes shining furiously. "Go and bother someone else, twerp!," he snapped.

Tails took a step back in surprise and hurt, while Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow took two forward.

"Got a problem with our friend?," Knuckles growled darkly. The black hedgehog scoffed. "Your mascot should take care of his own business.," he replied with a growl, before he looked briefly to the side and paled.

Tremblingly, he forced a smile. "H-hi, Honey...," he stuttered. Sonic frowned and looked in the direction he did, seeing another hedgehog standing there, male, with light pink fur, who didn't look amused at all.

"We should talk, shouldn't we?," he growled. "Y-yes, honey.," the dark hedgehog immediately agreed and pushed past the males in front of him to join the pink one, who walked towards the exit.

Once the door was closed, Sonic turned to Tails and went on his knee. "Hey, you know, that you shouldn't listen to idiots like him, right?," he asked, a little worried, as the fox was so quiet.

Tails nodded and quickly wiped his eyes. "Y-yeah, right...," he sniffed. Tails had been bullied before he had met Sonic, so he knew the hurt. That didn't mean, that he could handle it better since then.

If someone like Eggman taunted him, he could handle it, he knew, that he could hand the man his behind on a platter, as could Sonic, but if it was someone, who didn't know him and just judged him by his appearance and size, he couldn't help, but feel sad and hurt.

Noticing, that Sonic was worried, mostly, because he couldn't comfort him like always, he forced himself to calm down and smile. "Everything's okay, promise.," he reassured. Sonic looked him up and down, before deciding to believe him, smiling and standing up.

"I would like to beat this idiot still.," Knuckles growled, hitting his flat hand with his other fist. "Forget it, Knux, he's not worth the energy. But we should let know Kylie. She runs this place, so she should be able to do something against his attitude.," Sonic replied with a shrug. Knuckles grunted, but kept quiet after that, accepting his suggestion.

"WATCH OUT!" The shout, coming out of nowhere, it seemed, was the only warning the friends got to jump out of the way of the cannonball-like thing, that suddenly broke through the closed doors and straight into Mali's desk, pretty much obliterating it.

"Well, it definitely doesn't become boring here.," Rouge grumbled, while she landed again, brushing off the dust the destroyed desk had created.

"Right.," Amy growled. While she had tried to dodge, she had accidentally hit one of the chairs with her knee and now, it hurt badly.

"What in the world was that?," Sonic asked, after making sure, that nobody got hurt seriously. As if to answer his question, the debris of the desk suddenly moved and the black hedgehog, who had verbally attacked Tails before, dug himself out of it, a dark bruise on his left cheek and he was coughing.

Trembling from the aftershock, he forced himself on his feet and looked towards the entrance, through whose remains came a hedgehog with dark silver fur and long quills, that stood straight, moved by the energy floating through them. He was surrounded by dark green Chaos Energy, that fit to his obvious foul mood. The glass under his feet cracked, as did the floor under his steps.

His dark eyes found the dark hedgehog and his energy seemed to flare more. "What? Got tired?," he hissed, while he came closer. The dark hedgehog growled lowly. "Come on, was this all? Not so tough now, are you?," the silver one continued. The dark hedgehog snarled.

"Oh, scary.," the silver male mocked. He stopped just a few meters away from the other, putting his hands to his hips. "You like beating ukes? Try someone, who can actually meet you head on for a change!," he challenged. The dark hedgehog seemed tempted, but suddenly, he paled again and drew back.

Shadow didn't know, how this had happened without him noticing it earlier, but the foyer was at once full with very pissed male hedgehogs, who had drawn a circle around the two fighting ones and, as they stood literally between both, around the friends, too. Their glares, however, were all on the black hedgehog.

To the agent's surprise and shock, Sonic had for some reason joined the silver furred male, both looking murderous.

"S-Sonic!?," Tails asked surprised, but the hero didn't acknowledge him, he was solely staring at the dark hedgehog, who was by now sweating. "H-hey! W-what do you all want from me?," he asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

"Yeah, I would like to know that, too.," a very familiar voice suddenly stated, coming from the hallway to their left.


	6. 5: Kylie

**5: Kylie**

The friends turned around upon hearing that voice to see a dark haired human woman coming through the masses of hedgehogs, who moved to the side, when she was close enough, to let her pass.

Kylie hadn't changed much, from what Shadow could see. Her black hair had grown longer, after Rouge had cut it off two years ago, and she kept it bound together in a ponytail. Her brown eyes were still looking attentive and empathetic, just like he remembered them. She wore a long, light blue lab coat, that was disturbingly splattered with rather fresh blood all over the front. Her face and hands were clean, though.

Reaching the inner circle, Kylie looked around. "Okay, could you all give us some space to breathe?," she asked loudly and surprisingly enough, the hedgehogs obeyed, even the silver one backed off, just Sonic stayed, where he was.

"Sonic, it's okay, I'll handle it.," Kylie told him gently and again, Shadow got surprised by how easily this calmed the blue hedgehog down and returned him to his friends' side, although he was still watching the scene unfold further, still tense.

Satisfied with that, Kylie turned around to the black hedgehog, who reluctantly relaxed upon having more space now.

"Did you slaughter someone?," he asked, pointing to the blood – and flinched, when the hedgehogs were growling darkly, which Kylie effortlessly quieted with a glare.

"Nah, this just happens, when a stubborn seme has inner bleeding and tries to convince me verbally, that he is 'fine'.," she explained then, crossing her arms in front of her chest, which was probably meaning, that the blood was dried enough to not dirty her further. "And I see you finally found out, why people say, that a colony of ukes is more dangerous, than a pack of hungry wolves.," she added with a smirk.

Shadow's eyes widened, while he looked at the hedgehogs around him. This were all ukes!? He had actually started to feel remotely threatened...

"M-maybe...," the dark male replied, trying to remain cool. Kylie didn't mention his stutter. "Care to explain, why they all want to tear you to shreds?," she asked instead.

The male crossed his arms as well. "How am I supposed to know? I was just talking with my boyfriend, when this idiot over there attacked me!" He pointed to the silver male, who let his energy flare threateningly.

Kylie scowled. "Is this all? You know, that they don't attack for nothing, do you?," she questioned. The male just shrugged and looked away.

Kylie sighed and turned around to the silver male. "Could you please enlighten me, Finn? _Without_ foul language, please.," she added quickly. Apparently, this Finn liked to curse quite a lot.

The male rolled his eyes. "_Fine_. This..._guy,_" he actually needed to think for a moment to come up with a neutral word, "has just gotten dumped by his boyfriend. And his only reaction was to hit him right in the face!," he hissed, which caused collective gasps and growls among the by-standing ukes, their expressions ranging from horror to rage.

Shadow raised a brow. If the majority of the ukes hadn't known that – why were they here in the first place?

The dark male scoffed. "He's my boyfriend, what I do with him, is my business.," he snarled.

Shadow quickly turned around to Sonic, who had his fists balled tightly, but didn't make any attempt to give the guy a piece of his mind – yet.

Kylie stared down on him. "I see.," she said slowly. "And can you tell me when?" The black furred male – and everyone else around her – blinked at the woman.

"When?," the male repeated confused. "When did Espy become your property?," Kylie asked calmly.

The male's eyes widened. "You said 'what I do with him'. That's not how someone talks about his boyfriend, so I assume, that you are seeing him as an object, that you own and that you can treat, like you want."

The dark hedgehog let her words sink in, before he swallowed dryly and visibly deflated. Kylie had apparently opened his eyes.

Too late, though. "You know the rules and you broke one of them. You also know, what happens now." Kylie's voice had become strict and authoritative. "You have thirty minutes to pack your stuff and leave these grounds. You may try and return in a year, not one day earlier. Do you understand?"

The male just nodded, looking defeated, broken even. He slowly made his way across the room towards the exit, the hedgehogs making way for him, some already going outside, too, while others stayed. They didn't seem to trust the male not to disobey Kylie in some way.

The dark hedgehog stopped suddenly and turned his head to his left, where a small group of four ukes stood. One, with creamy white fur, held the pink hedgehog from before in a tight hug, while a light blue and dark brown one stood protectively between them and the single seme, glaring daggers at him.

"Espy.," the seme called his former partner's name, which caused the pink hedgehog, who had his face buried in the chest of the one holding him, to flinch.

"Espy, I...I'm sorry...," he sighed, sad because of his reaction. "Just go!," Espy sobbed, muffled by the fur. "You've done _enough_, wouldn't you agree?," the light male holding him added and the dark seme just nodded silently and left the foyer.

Kylie waited, until he was out of the building, before she went over to the four ukes, the two protective ones letting her pass without a problem. She knelt down in front of the pair. "Espy, can you please look at me for a moment?," she asked gently. Tremblingly, the male complied.

Sonic winced upon seeing the ugly bruise over his left eye. The pink male flinched every now and then, while Kylie carefully examined the wound, as well as the side of his left arm and left leg and his left side, on that he had apparently landed after being hit, seeing the bruises forming under the fur. Her fingers were prodding the areas gently, on their search for fractures.

"I'd say, that nothing is broken, but I want you to go to the ward today, so the injuries get examined properly.," she finally explained. Espy nodded and sniffed, wiping his uninjured eye.

Kylie smiled sadly and gently patted his head. "How about you go the canteen and get yourself an ice pack for your eye – and a big sundae for the heartache.," she added with a gentle grin. Espy smiled back weakly and nodded.

"Oh, yeah! Me, too!," the brown, apparently younger, uke cheered happily, jumping up and down in excitement. He took Espy's arm and started to pull him with him towards the left hallway behind the desk, telling him on the way about his favorite sundae, that was, judging by the longer and longer becoming list of ingredients, taller than him, when it was prepared. The other two followed them with fond smiles on their faces.

Once they were out of sight, Kylie turned to one of the ukes, who were still there, with dark purple fur and green eyes. "Do you mind repairing the foyer, Vremy?," she asked.

The uke grinned. "Of course not, no problem." He took off his unusually thick leather glove, knelt down and placed his right hand on the ground.

Immediately, the complete room started to glow and the friends watched with dropped jaws, how the cracks in the ground closed, crawling backwards to where they had started and disappeared, how the desk and the doors built themselves again, the debris and glass pieces just jumping back in place. In less than a minute, the foyer looked just like the moment they had entered it.

Satisfied, the male straightened and bowed to the cheering and applauding ukes and Kylie, as if he had just showed a trick during a contest. "Well done, thank you.," Kylie praised. "You're welcome, anytime.," the male replied, putting on his glove.

"How did you do this?," Shadow asked, unable to hide his surprise. If he didn't know better, he'd say, that he had used Chaos Control to manipulate time. But that was impossible... right?

"Oh, I can turn the time of objects backwards, to repair them. It's rather useful.," Vremy explained, waving his gloved hand uncaringly.

"Could you do that to persons, too?," Rouge asked. "In theory, but I rather don't. Who would want to be in diapers again?" With that, he turned to leave the foyer. It seemed, as if he suddenly fled the scene.

"Thanks again!," Kylie called after him, before she turned to the friends. "Hi guys, sorry, that I couldn't tend to you earlier.," she welcomed them, coming over.

Sonic wanted to reply something, when Tails stepped forward, towards the woman. "K-Kylie, I...I think, it's my fault, that this happened.," he confessed meekly, his ears pressed to his skull.

Sonic wanted to comfort him immediately, however, he wasn't the only one – his adoptive brother was suddenly surrounded by lots of ukes, who were cooing reassurances, that got mixed with each other.

Sonic felt quite a bit panicked to see his brother disappear behind the many colorful furs, quills and limbs, the picture causing some kind of pounding in the back of his head, that he couldn't explain.

He got distracted from it almost immediately, when he heard Kylie chuckle with a shake of her head and saw her weaving her way through the mass and towards the middle, bending down and picking a curled up Tails up.

"Guys, enough, you scare him.," she scolded gently, while she carefully held Tails to herself and petted his back to calm him down. "Go, here's nothing to do for you anymore.," she continued and the crowd dispersed as fast as it had been built in the first place.

"Oh, you're injured!" Amy jumped, when she heard the voice next to her and she whirled around to see a hedgehog with pure white fur, long, flowing quills and shining silver eyes standing there, staring at her knee, until she turned and then looking up, watching her concerned. He wore green sneakers and thin, light blue gloves.

"Um..." Insecurely, she turned around to Kylie. "Kylie?" The woman looked over to her. "It's okay. Rio is studying medicine, he just wants to make sure, that you aren't hurt badly.," she explained.

Reluctantly, Amy nodded and allowed Rio to guide her over to one of the chairs, sat down and let him examine her leg.

It reassured her, that Sonic and Knuckles were keeping a firm eye on the white one, ready to take him out, should he do something inappropriate. They trusted Kylie with Tails, but not the stranger with Amy.

"There's nothing broken, thankfully, but the bruises will hurt for a while. If you want to, I can take care of that.," the white hedgehog named Rio offered.

Amy blinked. "Take care of it? How?," she asked. "I can use my Chaos Energy to heal wounds...well, minor wounds, that is...," he corrected, blushing a little. "That's impossible.," Knuckles scoffed.

"It is possible, Knuckles, don't judge, just because you haven't seen something like that, yet.," Kylie replied, while she carried Tails to a seat a few chairs away from where Amy sat and carefully set him down. "Just let him do this, it doesn't hurt and spares you days, if not weeks of pain.," she added towards the hedgette.

Still a little reluctant, Amy nodded again and watched, how Rio took off the glove of his right hand, how a warm, dark green glow appeared around his hand and how he held it above her leg. In mere seconds, the bruise and the pain were gone. "Wow. Thank you!," she smiled.

Rio smiled back. "After what you did for us, it is the least I could do.," he replied. "What I did?," Amy repeated confused.

Rio's smile turned sadder. "You don't remember, do you? You have been the one, who had opened our cell two years ago on the Island."

Amy couldn't help it, her jaw dropped. "Y-you are...?" She recognized his eyes now. He had been the first hedgehog, who had left the cell, in that the ukes had been held.

"Y-you...er...l-look... better.," she stammered. Which was the understatement of the century. She wouldn't have recognized the dirty, dark gray furred, broken skeleton from two years ago, if he hadn't mentioned it.

Rio grinned. "Thank you. Although, I should thank you far more. You saved many lives back then." Amy blushed and looked down quickly. She wasn't used to being praised so much.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails had calmed down again. "Sorry about that.," Kylie apologized, kneeling down in front of the fox, so he could look at her easier. "Ukes can't see a distressed child without trying to calm him or her."

"It's okay, I just thought, that they were going to run me over.," Tails replied. "Yeah, they are sometimes a little too enthusiastic... Anyway, care to explain, why you think, that you are responsible for this mess?," she changed the topic.

Tails played nervously with his fingers. "W-well...the black hedgehog was...kinda bullying me, when this pink hedgehog appeared and they broke up a minute later, so..."

"Tails." Kylie interrupted him and placed her larger hand over his small ones to draw attention to herself. "Listen, this wasn't your fault. What happened here – minus the beating of Espy, of course – was completely normal. Not every couple is as lucky as Sonic and Shadow are, you know?" This let the fox and the two hedgehogs stare at her confused. "Huh?"

Kylie smiled and stood up to sit down next to him. "Mobians have an inner instinct, that tells them, when they have found their true mate. Sonic and Shadow just needed to see each other once to know, that they are made for each other." Both males felt their cheeks heat up at that.

"But that's rare, thanks to the huge population nowadays. It's close to impossible to find 'the one', so most mobian couples aren't true mates. That's nothing bad, there are so many happy non-true couples, that last until death.

A few months away from mating season, however, those non-true couples, whose relationships are younger than a year, start to question, if their partners are the right ones for them. This is normal, they want to make sure, that they can start a family with their partners, or that they can rely on their partners in general.

Ukes and females therefore watch discreetly, how their partners act, when they think they aren't watched by their boy- and girlfriends. They want to learn, how they interact with others, especially children, when they plan to start a family, to see, how they would treat their own offspring.

This situation with you was for sure just the last straw, Espy wouldn't have broken up just because of that. There had been more incidents in earlier situations, I'm sure of it. So please don't blame yourself anymore, okay?"

Tails nodded. "It was...rather cool, that all of those ukes were suddenly there.," he admitted.

Kylie grinned. "Yeah, I know. I have only seen it a few times, but it's amazing every time. Ukes and females are used to stick together, because in older days, the semes often left for hours, at times days, and they needed to defend themselves, if the colony got attacked."

"They considered the attack on one of them as attack on everyone?," Shadow asked incredulously. "Of course." Kylie shrugged. "What threatens one member of the colony, threatens them all."

"Is it normal, that semes react like that, when the uke breaks up?," Knuckles asked with a distrusting voice. Although he didn't look at him, it was rather clear, that he was talking about Shadow.

"Absolutely not, no, and I'm sorry you had to see that. Most semes worship their ukes and vice-versa, but there are always black sheep.," Kylie explained. "Weren't you a little too lenient with him?," Sonic growled.

Kylie smirked inwardly. She had actually asked herself, when he would ask. She was the Alpha of this unusual colony and he was an Alpha, too – it was normal, that Alphas criticized and questioned each other's methods.

"Sonic, do you _really_ think, that I just throw him out for a year and then welcome him back with open arms?," she asked with a smile. "Well..." Sonic frowned in thought, as if she had completely surprised him.

"Wow, thanks for your trust. No, if he wants to return – taken, that he actually wants that –, he will have to talk with three psychologists working here separately. Only if their reports all three agree to take him in again, I'll consider it. If only one of them is against it, he can forget it."

"Oh.," Sonic said dumbly. Kylie grinned smugly. It wasn't easy to impress an Alpha, she knew that much.

"Are you _done_ finally? Can we move now back to _my_ topic?," Mephiles suddenly asked, simply growing out of Kylie's artificially outstretched shadow behind her.

Said woman groaned without turning around. "Not again. You didn't stop bothering me during the surgery already – isn't it enough?," she sighed.

"Not until you answer my question – besides, I left you alone, when you were dealing with the problems here and that's done now, isn't it?," the male replied.

Kylie sighed again, stood up and turned around to Mephiles. "The problem is just, that you _aren't_ asking a question. You just started a whole speech, in that you keep complaining about nonsense like too sunny weather or people not minding their business, as if I could magically change it. So, out with it. What is your problem? And get to the point this time.," Kylie ordered dryly.

Mephiles crossed his arms. "Fine. I gave Silver a few 'spells', his word, not mine, so he can warp himself anytime to me and I underlined _several times_, that they are solely for _emergencies_. Yet, he used one, just to transport the people around you here. I think, that he is starting to rebel against me.", he ended, clearly upset now.

Kylie blinked, before she snorted and raised her hand to unsuccessfully stifle her laughter behind it.

"What the _hell_ is so _damn_ funny!?," the dark being raged, while Shadow feared for Kylie's mind – only a fool would laugh at someone as powerful as Mephiles.

"You are.," Kylie giggled. "I told you, that reading those magazines was a bad idea, didn't I?," she asked, having calmed down.

"Why should it be? Silver is a teenager, I am far too old to understand, what goes on in his mind. Which doesn't mean, that I can't try.," Mephiles defended himself.

"But not with _family magazines_, you idiot. They are for _parents_. You are _not_ Silver's father, you're his boyfriend and soon to be-mate. That's a huge difference, in case you haven't noticed it, yet."

"Did you just call me an idiot?," Mephiles growled. "How else should I call someone, who tries to research with the worst possible literature?," Kylie replied innocently.

Mephiles bared his fangs. "_Fine_, if you are so clever, then you tell me, why Silver disobeyed me in that way!," he ordered.

Kylie's glare hardened. "First of all: he isn't your servant, so don't call it 'disobedience'. He can do, whatever he wants, got it?," she growled.

Mephiles nodded curtly, his pride apparently the only thing keeping him from scrambling back.

He didn't see Silver as a servant, he never would, he had just been angry because of Kylie calling him...rightfully...an idiot.

"Good." The expression of her eyes softened and she smiled suddenly. "The reason, why he did that, is easily explained. He was showing off."

Mephiles scoffed. "Impossible, that's not Silver's style." He knew, that Silver would only show off, if he felt completely comfortable. Towards Sonic alone, okay, but Shadow and the guardian would have scared him to much.

Kylie chuckled. "It's not his style to climb on top of the Shelter and to scream 'My mate is the most beautiful one in the whole world!', true."

"Did the idiot do that again?," Mephiles asked with a raised brow. "Thankfully, no. Anyway, it's absolutely natural for females, semes and ukes to show off their current relationships or their mates. Females love to compare, how much their boyfriends, husbands or mates spoil them, with material things or immaterial values, like affection. Semes can start mini-wars trying to find out, whose boy- or girlfriend is more beautiful, intelligent and so on. And ukes like it to show off, how much they are cared for. Even the shiest ones do that, just more subtly. What Silver had been doing there, had had a simple message: 'Look, Sonic, how much Mephiles cares about me'."

While Mephiles fought to get the blush off his face, Sonic perked up at his name. "He wanted to show off in front of _me_?," he asked, confused. "Well, not consciously, I'd say. Mephiles is right about him being too shy for any act of showing off.," Kylie explained. "However, you are about his age and an uke, too, so my guess is, that he wouldn't have used this spell, if you hadn't been there to see it."

"I see..." Sonic frowned in thought. Would he show off with Shadow? Well, he was strong, caring and always seemed to know, what needed to be done, when it came to a fight, but he didn't feel, as if that was something he wanted to share with someone...

"Is your question answered then, or do you want to ask something else?," Kylie's voice got him out of his thoughts.

"Was Silver also showing off, when he crossed his boundaries again?," Mephiles asked, a growl in his voice.

"He did?," Kylie asked, surprised. "Yes. To help this girl...Kari, or whatever her name was." He waved uncaringly.

Kylie smiled. "No, that wasn't to show off. It was to help. Accept it, your Silver is someone, who wants to help everyone to the best of his abilities."

"And if it kills him? Should I _accept_ that, too?," Mephiles growled. "No. You should simply protect him, as every good mate does.," Kylie grinned.

Mephiles smirked back. "You bet I will." He frowned in thought for a moment. "...Thank you, I guess. And...sorry, for threatening you with your murder earlier..."

Kylie chuckled weakly, sounding tired, and Sonic remembered the threats the Shelter got, according to Zen, all the time. As the director, she was probably one of the few only people seeing those threats. It was clawing at her being, yet, it didn't affect her this much anymore. "No problem, it's not, like you actually tried something drastic.," she shrugged.

Just nodding once in response, the dark hedgehog merged with her shadow again, that returned to its normal place, when he was gone.

"Alright, you came for an examination, correct?," Kylie came down to business, turning to the blue hedgehog.

"Yeah, if it's possible.," Sonic shrugged. The prospect of an examination was never a reason to celebrate for him, no matter, who did it.

"Sure, I-" A ringing sound coming from the pocket of her coat interrupted her. She pulled out the mobile and looked at the display. "Sorry, that'll be just a minute.," she apologized, before accepting the call and moving a little away.

Even though the friends pretended not to hear anything, they heard every single word effortlessly.

"Hey Scythe, what's up? ...You did? That's great! Where are you now? ...Why? ...The short version, please, I'm kinda busy. ...Okay, I see. How long will it take? ...Scythe, we talked about this. Our lawyers are already working overtime. ...That's not the point. The point is, that I don't want to hear anymore about you hurting people... ...Would you stop with the joking? ...Thank you. Now, just be patient – and call me, when you are back. ..._Bye_, Scythe.," she ended the call impatiently.

"Everything okay with Scythe?," Amy asked. "Yeah, she just likes to go on my nerves.," Kylie replied, putting her mobile back in her pocket. "Anyway, would you like someone to accompany you to the examination? It's completely up to you.," she asked and then added.

Shadow, Knuckles and Tails immediately perked up at that, looking over to the blue hero expectantly.

"Er, give me a sec.," Sonic replied and dashed off towards the bathroom, feeling a sudden urge.

"Sorry about that, it's probably all the vegetables he's eating lately.," Tails apologized, slightly embarrassed. "No problem, really.," Kylie shrugged.

"Miss Ellen, Miss Ellen!" The twin shout let the friends turn around to see no one else but Bocoe and Decoe running towards them, almost falling over their feet. Incredulously, the friends stared at the two robots built by Eggman, stopping in front of Kylie. "We cleaned the basement, just like you told us!," Decoe told her excitedly.

Kylie chuckled fondly. "Good, thank you. You did a great job, I'm sure of it.," she praised, which let the two robots beam.

"What are those two doing here? Are you spying for Eggman!?," Knuckles asked distrustfully.

Kylie rolled her eyes. "Would you stop assuming that? Bokkun already complained about that towards me. If you must know, Eggman gifted a few of his robots to me, including those three. And I'll let you know, that I trust every single one of them _completely_.," Kylie told him strictly.

She didn't notice Bocoe and Decoe looking up at her in awe. Eggman had never before said something like that...or generally anything nice...about them.

"Why did he gift you robots?," Tails asked confused. Kylie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "For some reason, he is determined to date me. And that equals in his opinion with giving me lots of stuff and robots he doesn't need anymore to try and bribe me into going out with him.," she grumbled.

She looked up to see horrified faces. "Why would Eggman date you? I mean, for a human, you're for sure attractive and all, but still..." Rouge let the sentence drop, the fact just not getting in her head. "First of all, thanks. Second, he doesn't date me, he just tries to get me to agree to one date – which he can forget, by the way. And third, he said something about proving, that he is 'charming', or something like that." She frowned in thought, trying to remember the exact words.

Tails felt heat creep up his cheeks. "Er...K-Kylie? I...think, that's my fault.," he explained reluctantly. "Huh? In what way?," the human woman asked surprised. "Well, two years ago, Eggman was bragging with how 'charming' the artificial semes were, that he had sent after Sonic. I might have...provoked and challenged him a little there by saying, that they weren't.," he explained sheepishly.

"Fantastic. And I was probably the first female being he could think of, huh? Could you do something against this next time you see him?," Kylie asked exasperated, but not as angry, as Tails had feared. "Er...okay.," he quickly agreed, although he had no idea, how the heck he should do that. It wasn't, as if he and Eggman were having a nice talk over tea or coffee every week...

"Alright.," Kylie turned to Bocoe and Decoe. "You two can take a break for now, I don't think, that I have another task for you.," she explained.

To her surprise, both reacted with panic. "We can work, promise!," they quickly said, falling on their knees with a very uncomfortable sound, clinging to her legs, almost tripping her. "Guys, calm down! You can take a break, I won't throw you away at all, especially not, if you don't work 24/7. Remember? I told you, that I'm not like Eggman. You can simply relax for a while, okay?," she soothed. Reluctantly, the robots nodded.

Kylie smiled. "How about you get yourself some food? I'll let you know, when there is something for you to do.," Kylie offered and the two nodded again, far more enthusiastically now, standing up, bowing to her and going through a hallway to their left.

"...What exactly are these robots eating?," Rouge asked with a raised brow, looking after them. "Toxic waste. A few calibrations, and they had become true saviors of Mobius. There are several companies, that send their toxic waste here to get eaten and digested to harmless products by them. They don't see it as something useful, though, although it is.," Kylie replied.

"And what other robots are here, besides these three?," Knuckles asked. "Emerl and Shard. Although she isn't a robot, Nicole, too.," Kylie listed up. "Can't say I have ever heard about one of them.," the echidna mused. "No wonder, Eggman considered them failures, he never wanted to use them. But they were apparently good enough to gift them to the one he wants to date." She shook her head.

"That's strange." Rio looked around. "Usually, Nicole appears immediately, when someone calls her name.," he mused, looking over to Kylie.

"I'm sure she is a little ashamed to meet my friends here eye to eye. She had been programmed to find a way to kill Sonic, after all."

"But she would never do that!," Rio defended this Nicole immediately. "Doesn't change the fact, that this had been her original purpose. Rio, could you do me a favor?"

The male blinked. "Sure." "Could you please tell your brother, that I'd like to talk with him?" Rio's eyes widened. "Come on, you know, that Finn is just...okay, he sometimes overdoes it, but seriously, this guy had it coming, and-"

"Rio.," Kylie interrupted his rambling. "I'm not going to cut off his head, or put him in a cell. But it is high time, that we talk about a little self restriction. If Mali would have been behind this desk, she would have been gravely injured, or worse. Besides, I'd ask him to come to me tomorrow, so he has enough time to think about his behavior and about a good defense."

"Oh." Rio sighed in relief and smiled. "Sure, I'll do that." With a friendly nod towards Amy, he quickly left the foyer.

When he was gone, Rouge looked around to find their group of one more person short. "Did anyone see Shadow?"

* * *

Shadow congratulated himself for his genius idea to get past the obstacle of the stinking door. He just used Chaos Control.

It was a little risky, since he had never before seen the bathroom from the inside and could, in the worst case, warp himself straight in a toilet bowl, but Sonic was worth it.

He landed thankfully in the middle of the room – and the stench filling it immediately stung his nose. Well, now he knew, what was taking Sonic so long.

He winced in pity upon hearing the retching, that he had gotten used to in the last few weeks. How he wished to comfort Sonic...

He perked up, when the toilet got flushed and Sonic stumbled out of the first cabin. He looked a little pale and green and was sweating. He made his way over to the sinks, discarded his gloves and proceeded to wash out his mouth and clean himself up.

When he was satisfied, he straightened. "Hey, Shads.," he greeted, looking through the mirror at him.

"Can I do something?," Shadow asked calmly. "Mind bringing me a new pair of gloves?" He held up his and Shadow could see a faint yellow stain on them. "Sure. Throw over.," he replied.

Sonic did just that and the dark agent snapped his fingers, transporting the dirty pieces of clothes straight into their washing machine and getting a new pair out of Sonic's drawer. He caught it, when it landed in his hands. "Here." He threw it over and Sonic caught it, putting the gloves on. "Thanks." "No problem. Are you feeling better?," Shadow asked.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, it's just morning sickness, _right_?," the blue hero asked, knowing the term thanks to Tails' research.

Shadow flinched at the cold words and looked up to see Sonic glare at him. So he was still upset about this, huh?

"Sonic, I-" "How could you even for a SECOND think, that I would betray you like that?," he interrupted him. There was disappointment audible in his voice.

"I... I just didn't know, what to think, so I..." "So you just stuck to the most ridiculous and hurtful explanation for the both of us? Great plan, Shads, really.," Sonic bit out.

He pushed away from the sink and came towards Shadow, stopping in the distance, that had become comfortable for him. "Listen here – and listen good. I. Love. You. You – and only you. Even if I would share a carton box with Knux and not a whole _island_, it would never change this fact. My heart belongs to _you _only. Do you get that finally?," he asked, not once blinking, staring in his boyfriend's eyes.

Shadow nodded solemnly. "I do. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Sonic smiled, all anger gone. "Of course. Just don't ever assume something about me again. Ask me first next time, okay?"

Shadow nodded sheepishly. Sonic grinned brightly, turned around and went to the wall opposite the door, opening the small rectangular window there – through that wouldn't even fit a child – to get the stench out. "Hey, Shads, could you stay still for a minute?," Sonic asked, with his back still to the other.

Shadow raised a brow. "Sure I could, but why?" "Oh, I just want to try something out.," Sonic replied, a smirk in his voice.

Shadow frowned, but stayed, where he was. He had the feeling, that Sonic had a rather crazy idea again. Last time, a few months ago, he had tried out, if just swallowing his chilidogs without chewing would let him eat more. In a way, it did...since he vomited the first two dozens out, he needed to repeat his meal...slower this time. What did he plan to do now?

He watched, how Sonic took a deep breath, before he turned quickly around. Shadow's eyes widened, when a strong gust of wind brushed past his left side and out the door. He almost stumbled from the strength of the gust and his left side felt suddenly very cold and numb, but not even that could stop him from feeling the slight tingle on his left cheek. He brushed his fingertips over the spot. Did he imagine it?

He felt the corners of his mouth lift. No. Sonic had found a way to trick his instincts – by letting the physical contact last under a second. And he was for sure the first one ever to get a super sonic kiss.

He looked up and sweatdropped upon seeing the bathroom...slightly untidy. The doors of the cabins had been pushed open, the toilet paper pooled under the empty rolls, dry leaves and a few blossoms had been dragged in through the window and the towels had fallen to the ground.

Knowing, that Kylie would give them hell for this chaos, he went to clean up, a smile on his lips all the time. That had been so worth it.

* * *

Outside the room, Sonic leaned next to the door against the wall, waiting for his nausea to calm down.

It had been a stupid idea to try that, but he had wanted to find it out. And well, he had been right. Besides, giving a kiss while running – who could say, that they had ever managed that? Okay, it had been just on the cheek, but hey, it had been the first try!

Frowning, he turned his attention back to other problems. He was actually glad, that his body had started this vomiting. It had distracted him from his panic – and hidden the smell from Shadow. Seemed, as if he had waited for too long to go to a doctor.

Doing his best to hide his rising dread, he started to walk towards his friends. "...think, that that's a good idea?," he heard Tails ask, when he turned the corner. "No worries. We check all of Eggman's former robots regularly for bugs, viruses and so on. But if it makes you feel better, you can always check them yourself. Tomorrow, though. Emerl and Shard need frequent charging days – and this is today.," Kylie explained. "Okay. I still want to do that. I don't feel comfortable with Cream this close to something, that Eggman built.," the fox explained.

Kylie chuckled. "That's, how most of the ukes feel. Cream's the most watched over girl here, I assure you. However, you can always check this yourself, I'm sure they won't mind.," Kylie replied and then looked up to see Sonic. "Hey there. So, back to my question?," she asked.

For a second, Sonic had no idea, what she meant, but then he remembered. "Ah, that. I can handle my own, really.," he shrugged. "Okay, then come, let's get this over with. Oh, Mali, there you are! Do you mind bringing my friends to my office, until I'm done with Sonic?," she asked the woman, who had apparently just appeared behind Sonic. The hero turned around – and his eyes widened in shock.

Now he knew, why Mali's chair had been gone with her before – she sat in it. Mali was sitting in a wheelchair.

It was a highly technological one, with all kinds of buttons on her arm rests, painted in light blue on the bottom and light brown at the top half, making it look like a regular chair, when she sat behind her desk, which was probably the plan. What he could see from her pale legs, that wasn't covered by her more than knee-long dress, was full of almost faded, hardly distinguishable scars of all forms and patterns and he quickly looked away to not make her uncomfortable.

"Sure, I can do that. I wouldn't go to the open ward, though. Veit and Tebian are there.," Mali advised. "Don't tell me Tebian challenged Mephiles again.," Kylie groaned annoyed. "No, nothing like that. Veit got attacked by the killer robot your friends brought along. It wanted to destroy Bokkun, actually, but Veit was in the way.," Mali replied easily.

"Did Veit get hurt?," Kylie asked, looking rather angry – and Shadow didn't exactly choose a good moment to come back, when he stepped into the foyer in this very second. He stared openly at Mali, as if she had suddenly three heads.

"No." The young woman pointedly ignored the staring. "I asked Thilo to make up a lie to keep Veit there for the next hours. Since Tebian won't leave him there alone, I figured, that this would be for the best, to keep him away from Sonic for as long as he stays here today."

"I see. Good thinking.," Kylie praised, before turning to Shadow. "Shadow, you and Rouge will remove your robot friend now.," she ordered.

Shadow ignored her, still staring at Mali, before he slowly went towards her. Mali looked at him with mild curiosity. "I...wanted to apologize. For my earlier behavior.," he explained neutrally.

Mali snorted. "Feeling guilty, because I'm disabled?," she asked mockingly. There was a subtle hint of bitterness in her voice and posture, she had apparently experience with that kind of behavior.

But Shadow shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I just got chewed through by my mate for my behavior earlier and realized, that I did not only him wrong, but you, too. For that, I apologize." It wasn't like Shadow to admit, that he had been scolded, no matter by whom, but Mali didn't need to know that.

And really, the woman looked surprised, yet pleased. "It's...it's alright, I guess...," she stammered.

"Alright then. Shadow, the robot. Come on, Sonic, we have a few private wards here, there's everything I need." Kylie waved the blue hedgehog with her, while Shadow just huffed, a smirking Rouge behind him.

Sonic waved at his friends and followed the human woman along a hallway. There were only a few flower pots with bushes in them along the wall to his right and big windows to his left.

The only other decoration were children's pictures, that were on the right wall, so close to each other, as if they were to replace the wallpaper. The children had drawn pretty much everything there was to be drawn – animals, their family, their houses and he even discovered a certain blue section with pictures of him. Most of them were hardly resembling him, but some of the little artists did have a talent, even he could tell.

"You are one of their favorite motives.," Kylie smiled, having noticed his look. Sonic smiled back weakly. He couldn't bring himself to put as much joy in it, as he wanted.

To make it worse, Kylie noticed it. "Is something the matter? You seem closed off, since you came from the bathroom!," she mentioned. Sonic sighed. No use in lying about it or keeping it hidden – he would tell her anyway, when she would ask about his symptoms. He should get this over with and just come out.

He took a deep breath and confessed, "I think, I'm dying."

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

"Come with me, I'll show you the way to Dr. Ellen's office.," Mali waved. "And we are removing Omega.," Rouge replied, looking over to Shadow, but the seme was staring in the direction Sonic had gone to, not indicating at all, that he had heard her.

She rolled her eyes. "Shadow, relax already, Kylie won't harm him, you know that.," she grumbled and moved to push him out the door – which was, since he didn't move, about as successful as pushing against a brick wall to make it fall.

Shadow couldn't help, but frown in thought. Sonic's last smile towards his friends, just before he had been gone with Kylie...had looked fake. Was something up he didn't know? Or was he just nervous about the examination? From what he learned, Sonic didn't like examinations – after the Island-incident even less – and was for sure not thrilled to go through this. But, was this really all?

A sharp hit over his head let him jump – more in surprise, than out of any other motive – and turn around quickly to see Knuckles facing a less than amused Rouge. "What? You asked, if one of us had an idea to wake him up!," he defended himself.

Shadow rolled his eyes and turned to march out of the building. He truly forgot everything, when it came to Sonic. It was a miracle, that he hadn't messed up any mission yet due to thinking about his love. Well, usually, Sonic was absolutely well, when he left him, or at least in the best possible hands, so he didn't need to worry...

He stopped thinking, when he almost crashed into Omega. The robot had stood up by now and turned to him the minute he came out.

"We need to move you.," Shadow told him simply. He knew, that Omega wouldn't ask for reasons – he wasn't programmed to ask questions, or to question anything. And really, Omega just turned and started to walk.

Shadow noticed a slight change in his moving pattern, as if his joints were rusted or blocked. He knew, that this happened, when he hadn't moved for a while, but that time span was usually a complete week. Blush probably did some damage to his joints. It was for the best to let him walk a bit to see, if he needed a repair, that the robot couldn't do himself.

The dark agent wasn't surprised to see a white bat landing on Omega's shoulder a minute later. Even a feral butterfly would have caught up to them easily.

"A penny for your thoughts?," he heard her ask. Shadow just shrugged. "Let me guess, Sonic? Come on, Shadow, you know, that Kylie will do her best to help him.," Rouge sighed.

She knew, that Shadow could become close to obsessed with Sonic, when he wasn't well. While he had been recovering from the Island-incident, Shadow had rarely left him alone and when he did, for example, because his friends came for a visit, then he had hovered next to the door, as if he needed to fear, that Knux, or Tails, would try to kill him. Thankfully, he had calmed again, when Sonic had recovered enough to stand up, but every minor injury, every small cough or sneeze let mother hen Shadow celebrate a comeback... She had no idea, how Sonic managed to tolerate this.

"I know that. It's not about the human. Sonic just...seemed strange to me the last time I saw him, that's all."

"In what way?," Rouge asked, surprised, that Shadow actually talked about Sonic and that without his standard answer of 'That doesn't concern you', 'He's fine, don't worry', or 'Stop asking about him, or I'll have to break something', which usually indicated her bones. Not that he would actually do that, it just showed, how much he was annoyed then.

"I'm not sure. He just seemed...upset, I guess." He shook his head. "Forget it, I'm probably seeing things."

Rouge snorted. "That's a first." "That I'm seeing things?" Shadow raised a brow. "That you admit it.," Rouge smirked, even wider, when Shadow shot her an annoyed glance. "Yeah, yeah, you're going to break something, I know."

* * *

Back to Sonic and Kylie:

Kylie almost tripped over her feet upon hearing that, but she managed to catch herself. Just to be safe, she stayed where she was, though. Sonic stopped, too, looking lost and worried, for sure having a million thoughts going through his mind. Kylie's thought process was far simpler: _Shadow, I'm going to murder you!_

How could he keep such an important information from Sonic!? She knew of course, that Sonic was immortal, she had been the only witness of seeing him becoming this, watching, how Shadow shared his blood with him, listening to him explaining, that Sonic was probably not as immortal as him, that his regeneration was probably not as good as his own... And she was VERY sure, that she had advised him to tell Sonic about this as soon, as he was better. What, had he been bedridden for two years straight!? Oh, she was going to kill him, if he was immortal, or not.

Taking a deep breath and calming down, she turned to Sonic. "What makes you think that?," she asked as neutrally as possible.

Sonic looked up at her, having apparently expected a bigger reaction (unaware of the murder plans in his friend's mind), before his ears pressed to his skull. "It's just, I was in the bathroom and well, there was...blood... when I peed...," he almost whispered the last part, embarrassed as he blushed deeply.

"Ah." Kylie frowned. Well, no wonder, that he was disturbed, but her medicinal education refused to see it as something fatal for as long as Sonic was walking and talking as effortlessly as he was now. "Well, I don't think, that we need to worry too much. You seem coherent and not in pain, so it's most likely nothing bad. I'll look at it during the examination, okay?," she smiled reassuringly, nodding her head to indicate, that she wanted to go further. Sonic followed her. "You're taking this surprisingly well...," he mentioned.

Kylie chuckled. "If I would spiral into a panic every time, when something like that would happen, the Shelter and my family would have already drowned in chaos. I rather wait for a solid reason to panic – and then I freak out."

Sonic snorted. "Yeah, probably for the best.," he agreed, chastising himself for getting terrified this quickly. Usually, Tails – or Shadow, or someone else for that matter – needed to spell out, why a certain situation was a good reason for panic, so he would take it remotely serious. This illness was really messing with his head.

"Hey, how's your family?," he changed the topic. He noticed a small tension on Kylie, when he asked that, but it was gone quickly. "Oh, my children are fine, they grow up to be fine adults. I even say this about Vanessa, and she is just eight. She's fine, really, fine..."

Kylie was rambling, which was a first for her. Sonic just couldn't imagine, why. However, she was only talking about her children...

"Kylie.," he interrupted her. "What about your husband?" Kylie seemed to think about not answering, but then she sighed and brushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "My husband and I...divorced. We aren't mated anymore.," she explained right away, knowing, that Sonic wouldn't understand the word 'divorce'. Not because he had never before visited a school to learn it, but because mobians didn't marry.

During her research, she had learned, that the concept of marriage was completely human territory. Sure, there were many mobian couples, who married after they had mated, but it was only to have a real ceremony for it, since the actual mating didn't have one. They also called themselves 'wife' and 'husband', because they imitated human behavior, not because the two words were used traditionally.

Mating happened only during mating season, which was usually the time, when couples mated for the first time ever, their instincts in this time span working in an unique overdrive and urging them to do so.

While being 'at it', the partners marked each other as theirs, usually with a bite – thanks to the instincts being so active, they would never remember the pain – which was the equivalent of putting a ring on a finger for humans. The wound would get minimally treated, scar over and be visible even through the fur, signaling to everyone: back off, he/she is taken!

Sadly, a mark was as effective, as a ring on the finger – it didn't stop other semes to try and make a move on a mated uke/female and vice-versa. The chance for success was rather slim, though.

Mobians referred to their boy- or girlfriends often as 'mates' long before mating, or before mating season started, which was actually a promise, a promise to mate them one day. It was a love confession, that couldn't get any stronger.

Since mating was an unconscious process, couples, who weren't ready for this step – they usually kept coupling for two weeks straight and almost always ended up with a child on the way, since protection wasn't something they could actually think about during this time – either separated before this time started, to meet again, when it was over, or they took a special herb, that would artificially calm their instincts, giving them the illusion, that mating had already happened.

If the partners belonged to two different species, this was easier, as the mating seasons were happening separately and would start to sync with each other over the time of up to five years, until the mates would feel the unique instinct overdrive during a completely new time span, different to both mating seasons and just working for them.

To humans, or better: to Kylie, it had appeared strange, that a bite and sex were enough to bind two people together forever (in most cases, that is – as she knew by now, most couples weren't meant to be and were more prone to break-ups, than the true ones) and also, that the mates would have no recollection of this time. Strangely, the next mating season as well as every other, however, would stay as very intense memories in their minds...

On the other hand, humans put a small metal ring around their mate's finger and then considered them theirs. Their rituals were both very strange.

Breaking up, however, was for mobians a greater hassle, since they needed to get rid of the mark, which had been a mostly deadly procedure in older days. Nowadays, this was the job of a surgeon...

"...Why?," Sonic asked, ripping her out of her thoughts. As predicted, he couldn't imagine a single reason, why she should break up. Mating was a strong connection, created by the most feral, basic thing mobians had: their instincts. They weren't attracted by looks, money or character, but by the wavelength the instincts worked on, that was compatible. It was so deeply engraved in them, that there was so little being able to separate them beyond death... Even mobians, who hadn't have a mate, yet, knew this...by instinct.

He didn't ask about why her last name didn't change – as mobians usually didn't have a last name, this didn't cross his mind.

"My...husband didn't agree with what I did on the Island.," she explained slowly. "Wha-" Sonic's jaw dropped. "But you didn't do it, because you wanted it! Perringten forced you, that's-"

"Sonic.," Kylie's calm voice cut him off. "He didn't agree with what I did for YOU on the Island." Sonic's eyes widened in realization. "He's-" "-mobiphob, exactly.," Kylie replied dully.

Mobiphobia was a nice word for describing humans, who were afraid of mobians and/or hated their guts. People with mobiphobia thought, that mobians were freaks of nature and that they needed to be extinct. Towers, the former GUN-Commander, was a prime example for this group of people.

"...Why did you marry someone like him, when he's like that?," Sonic asked confused. He couldn't imagine, that Kylie would marry someone, who had so contradicting thoughts to her own.

Kylie sighed again. "It's not like I ever asked, 'By the way, what do you think of mobians?', and he never asked, either. We both just assumed, that we shared the same opinion on that topic. Since we lived in an all-human-district and our children went on schools with only humans, it's not, as if it ever came up."

"And you never wondered about seeing only humans?," Sonic pried, having the feeling, that she was keeping something from him.

Kylie turned around sharply and faced the surprised Sonic, who stopped at once, since she was now blocking his path.

"You want the truth? Here it is: I was wary of mobians, okay? I'm not proud of it, even though it's only human to be afraid of what I don't know. I...I was even a little proud to be a human and not a mobian..."

"What changed it?," Sonic asked, not having missed the past tense. "The first time Perringten showed me, what happened on Paradise, I hated to be a human. I hated to have partly the same blood running through my veins. I realized painfully, that humans weren't better than anyone, if they acted like that."

"Yet, you still had to be wary of us..." "Of course I was. Do you have any idea, how often I got bitten by the ukes I tried to help? I can consider myself lucky to still have all of my my fingers!," Kylie chuckled tiredly. "The only good thing coming from the Island, besides our friendship, were the tools there, that heal wounds, so they never left a scar.," she added thoughtfully.

"What changed it? Your opinion about mobians?," Sonic asked. Kylie smiled, while her glare turned distant. "My doubts vanished with every patient I had, but Silver definitely broke a very good part of my walls down. He was so innocent, just like a newborn pup, never hiding anything, just as honest as a child. My very last of doubts and hesitance, however, crumbled under the hands of a certain blue hedgehog." With that, she turned around and walked on, leaving a stunned Sonic behind.

It took the blue hero a good minute to snap out of his stupor and ten more seconds to catch up – thanks to his still slightly upset stomach, he needed to take it slow.

"What did I do?," he asked, confused. Kylie smiled sadly. "Although I felt great sympathy for the hedgehogs, I had no idea, what I should do. It was, as if I was working for a big laboratory and knew, that there were some people experimenting on animals. I would feel bad for the poor animals, but would know, that opening the cells wouldn't help them. I...just didn't wreck my brain for a solution, before I met you."

"And I changed it how?," Sonic couldn't help, but ask. Kylie had _always_ seemed to be pretty determined to help them and risk everything in the process, from what he remembered.

"This will sound so stupid and selfish, but I recognized you, of course, and you are my children's idol, so the moment I saw you, I saw the faces of my children in front of me, when I told them, that I saw their beloved hero in trouble and didn't even _try_ to help him and I couldn't bear that thought." She talked quickly, as if she needed to get the words out, before they burst out of her.

"Kylie." Sonic's call let her turn around and look down on him. "If that was true, then you would have smuggled you and me off the Island and not cared about anyone else. You wouldn't have cried for those suffering and you wouldn't have rescued my friends, neither off the Island, nor out of the Uke Institute. You wouldn't have risked your life and that of your family."

Kylie frowned in thought, biting her lip. She had apparently asked herself several times already, why she had risked everything, even her beloved ones' lives for mobians she hardly knew.

She had cared from minute one, not just after meeting Silver, Sonic was sure of it, but this behavior towards mobians she had been wary of before, was a mystery for her.

Her thinking about it had probably bothered her from the first moment on, that she had had an opportunity to do so. She had had maybe even some sleepless nights over it and just stuck with the explanation from before in her desperation to get it out of her head. But the blue hero had broken her argumentation with ease.

Sonic grinned, when he got an idea. "Ask me, why I am a hero.," he asked. The woman blinked, but obeyed, "Er...why are you a hero?".

"My, what an unexpected question!," Sonic gasped dramatically, making Kylie laugh lightly. "As to answer your question, dear Kylie –," he continued, pretending, as if they were in a live streamed interview right now, "I have absolutely no idea."

"Huh?" Kylie blinked. "I know, that there are people, who think I'm doing it because of the money, the fans, the respect or the fame, but that isn't true. I just do it, end of story. You know, I think, that there are many people out there, who have a heroic heart, just not the means to show it as openly and extensively as me. I'm convinced, that there are many heroes among us, without even realizing it. They probably even find excuses for their altruistic, illogical deeds, like 'doing it for their children', or-"

Kylie interrupted him with an unexpected hug. Thankfully, Sonic was used to surprise hugs – mostly thanks to Amy – and his quills quickly pressed down on his back, so the human wouldn't get hurt.

"Y-You sometimes really know, what to say to make me feel better.," he heard her say, her voice trembling and her grip tightening in an attempt of seeking comfort. "Eh, no problem...," Sonic replied embarrassed, glad, that the hallway was empty.

It should take him another minute to realize, that Kylie had touched him without his instincts causing any problem...

* * *

Meanwhile:

Tails couldn't help, but feel a little torn. Mali's wheelchair did look really cool, especially now, that he was walking behind it and got a good view on its inner structure, since it wasn't closed off at the back. He would love to see its whole system, but he was very sure, that Mali wouldn't appreciate it to be without her chair.

He jumped out of his musings, when he saw a flash of pink suddenly appearing on his left, but it was just Amy, who had a worryingly big smile on her face and a creepy shine in her eyes.

"Er...Amy? Is...everything okay?," he asked slowly. Now, that he thought about it... he hadn't have seen her in the last few minutes, she had strayed away to somewhere...

"Oh, just fine.," Amy grinned still, somehow talking, without changing her mimic in the slightest. She seemed to have regressed to her worst _obsessed with Sonic_-days. "Where have you been anyway? I was just about to look for you!," Knuckles chastised.

Amy didn't seem to have listened and thankfully, Mali stopped in this very minute, before the fight could escalate. "Here we are.," she explained, her chair turning around on the point and Tails would have loved to know, how it did that.

Mali pointed to a wooden door, that had a sign with the words 'Dr. Kylie Ellen, Director' on it. Mali's chair turned again, so that she could open the door for them, before she rolled back, to let them in.

Curiously, the mobians looked inside. At the other side of the big room, in front of a big window with white curtains in front of it, they saw a large desk stapled with papers and files in some kind of controlled mess. Some chairs were arranged in front of the desk.

"You can wait here.," she explained, gesturing inside. "Do you maybe want something to drink? Or a snack?," she asked, while they entered.

"No, th-" Amy, who suddenly screamed and quickly clung to Knuckles, interrupted the echidna.

"W-what's wrong!?," Tails, who had just crossed the threshold, asked, having jumped, too. "Th-the book! It just fell on the ground! From midair!," Amy stuttered, shaking like a leaf, pointing to something out of Tails' vision.

A little frightened, the fox inched closer into the room and peered around the corner. Opposite the desk and next to the door was a large, packed bookshelf, taking the whole space of the wall. A few meters away from the shelf, on the gray carpet, lay a book, innocently. It seemed, as if Kylie had left it there, but that wasn't like her at all.

He stumbled back, when the book suddenly started to tremble, as if someone tried to lift it, but found it to be too heavy. But... there was no one!

He was about to back away more, when he heard a chuckle behind him. He turned around to see Mali looking also at the book.

"Ah, hello, Mist. Back again?," she asked casually, as if that was completely normal and a daily phenomenon. The book stilled.

"What was that?," Knuckles asked distrustfully, not trusting the peace to last. "This was just Mist, a ghost, who often hangs out in Dr. Ellen's office. He doesn't talk and can't interact with much objects. Could someone please pick up the book? Mist apparently lost too much energy again.," she asked.

Carefully, Tails inched closer, after some hesitating, always expecting some kind of attack, that thankfully didn't come, and picked up the book, that was about psychology, judging by the title. He discovered one gap in the lines of books on the shelf and carefully put the book in it, pushing it in, until it reached the wooden back of the shelf.

He flinched, when something white appeared suddenly next to him and quickly turned around to it. It was a hedgehog, with pure white fur and silvery eyes, looking almost like Rio, but with far shorter head quills. He looked pretty meager, had no clothes and his left ear was missing. Tails could see the wall behind him through parts of his body. A smile was on his colorless lips and he bowed to Tails, before disappearing at once.

"That was his way of saying 'thank you'.," Mali explained with a smile. "W-will he come back?," Amy asked, still clinging to Knuckles' arm, that slowly lost all feeling.

"Sorry, I can't say. Mist has his own head, he only listens to Dr. Ellen.," Mali replied honestly.

She noticed the anxious glares of the three mobians. "Would you like to wait in the foyer? Dr. Ellen needs to cross it, when she wants to come here.," she offered, which the friends accepted with relief.


	7. 6: Relationships for beginners

**6: Relationships for beginners**

"Sorry, for the hugging. I guess, I needed that.," Kylie apologized, while they walked next to each other through the hallways, their destination not too far away now.

She had noticed, that Sonic had tensed suddenly, and she had understood it as the crossing of some kind of border, which was, why she had let him go again quickly.

"No problem, I'm...rather surprised, that you could, actually.," Sonic replied in a mumble, thoughtfully.

He had, after a minute, realized, that Kylie had been closer to him than anyone in the last few weeks and out of a reflex, the reflex, that had kept everyone at bay so far, he had tensed up and raised his quills, which had forced Kylie to let go.

"What do you mean?," Kylie asked surprised. "Well, since weeks, I keep everyone at arms-length, even Shadow and Tails. You are the only one, who could actually touch me. I'm glad, that Shadow had not been here to see it, he would have killed you.," he added dully.

"...Is everything okay with you two?," Kylie asked carefully. "Yeah, besides Shad's jealousy driving me up the walls and me pushing him away all the time. We're totally fine.," Sonic growled.

"I see..." Kylie interrupted herself upon seeing, that they were standing in front of the white painted door with the milky glass window in its top half, that was one of their private wards, as the letters on the glass indicated.

Figuring, that Sonic would probably be more talkative, when there wasn't a chance of someone listening in, she opened the door – and looked directly at the two mobian girls staring at her, seemingly frozen in place.

Sonic noticed, that she didn't enter and moved to look past her and also at the girls. One of them was a yellow furred mongoose girl, about fourteen years old, with long purple hair and brown eyes.

She was in the process of wrapping the arm of the second girl, a cat with light turquoise fur, yellow eyes and a slim, long tail, who seemed slightly younger. The cat wore a black training suit, that needed a repair desperately, judging by all the rips and tears in and the missing fabric, while the other girl wore a green mini-skirt and light blue t-shirt.

"Again?," Kylie asked with a raised brow, she didn't seem overly surprised to see them, neither together, nor in this place.

"What can I say? Mirrors are evil.," the cat shrugged. "Okay, whatever. Would you speed it up a bit, so that I can use the ward, please?," Kylie asked.

"S-sure!," the mongoose squeaked, suddenly blushing like crazy, tying the bandage, apparently harder, than she had intended, judging by the yelp she earned, quickly putting the used utensils away. When she was done, she took the hand of the other girl and rushed them out of the door with a more than average speed. It was hardly, what Sonic could achieve, but definitely fast.

"She can always reach such a speed, when she's scared.," Kylie explained. "She was scared of us?," he asked confused. "No, just embarrassed. She was highly motivated to get away from her big idol." She winked at Sonic and led them inside. The hero looked for a second after the duo, before he followed her.

"Take a seat, if you like, I'll just change into something cleaner.," Kylie told him, pointing to the table, on that the cat had sat before, while closing the door gently.

Sonic just shrugged, walked to it and hopped up to sit on it, while Kylie walked to a wardrobe in the far corner, opened one of its doors and got out a lavender lab coat, that she switched with her blue one, throwing it carelessly in a corner.

"Alright, let's start with this." She went to a cupboard, opened it and got out something, with that she returned to Sonic, letting herself plop on a stool with wheels in front of him and held out a small rectangular box out of white plastic to him. In the side facing Sonic was a hole.

Sonic scowled, recognizing the object. "Kylie, I. Am. Not. Pregnant!," he hissed, knowing, that this box tested, if someone was carrying. He had seen Scourge performing this test on the Island.

"No, really?," Kylie replied sarcastically. "I knew this the second you wanted to come with me alone. No pregnant mobian would go completely alone with a human – even if you trust me.," she added, when Sonic already wanted to contradict. "This little thing here can more, than just what you think. Come, now."

Giving up, but still convinced, that it was a huge waste of time, Sonic obeyed. He winced, when the needle pierced his bare finger tip and pulled out to suck the digit, while Kylie watched the box.

For a minute, they sat in silence, before Kylie's face lit up. "Ha, I knew it!," she grinned proudly.

Looking up, she smiled in Sonic's confused face. "I can reassure you, that you won't die. The blood you saw in the bathroom wasn't blood at all, just a coloring caused by certain hormones. It was to inform you, that you will somewhere in the next seven days ovulate. This is actually rare, you know? Most ukes are informed of it the day it happens, your body instead gives you an early warning."

Sonic blinked at her owlishly. "I'm going to do- what?," he asked, completely confused. Kylie's smile vanished and she frowned at him for another minute, looking him up and down, as if searching for something. "Sonic, do you...know, how babies are made?," she asked slowly.

Immediately, Sonic felt heat creep up his cheeks. "W-well...," he stuttered, scratching his quills. It was quite obvious, that he had no idea. He knew the basics, of course, that a seme and an uke/a female were needed and sex, too, but that was it. So far, he had never _really_ needed to think about it...

"Okay. Nicole!," Kylie called in the empty room. "Yes?," a voice asked out of nowhere, making Sonic jump. "Please be so kind and ask Mali to reserve a place for Sonic in our next sexual education class...and one for Shadow, too.," she asked. "Of course.," the voice replied and fell silent.

"W-wait a minute, I-," Sonic tried to protest, but he was a little overrun there. Kylie turned to him. "Sonic, you will _not_ argue with me and go to this class.," the woman told him strictly. "Ovulating means, that your body gets ready to conceive a child. It will be your most fertile time of the month – and you have apparently not a single clue about what this means. You will take this class, so you'll learn, what your body is telling you, how you can avoid getting pregnant and many things more. I'm sorry for being so strict, but I don't want to ever read a newspaper with the title 'Sonic the Hedgehog pregnant – I didn't know, that this could happen, he says'.," she added.

Sonic swallowed dryly. Yeah, he didn't want this either. "Alright, but I don't see Shadow taking this class with me.," he conceded. "Oh, semes and ukes go to separate classes. It would be highly embarrassing, if a seme would learn, how an uke's system works in detail, trust me. And if he declines, I'll have Mephiles drag him there. He would for sure love that.," Kylie chuckled.

Sonic smirked. He still remembered, how often the two had clashed two years ago, so he could imagine that, too.

"So, this wasn't blood?," he asked, switching back to the previous topic. "No, it wasn't, but it probably looked like it in the first second. This hormone causes urine to take a red to reddish-brown color and a certain smell. It informs the uke and semes smelling it, that he either will ovulate, or is already. The semes sniffed out and followed the scent for miles, if necessary, in the past."

Sonic grimaced. "Sounds disgusting." Kylie shrugged. "This were the older days, many things had been different back then.," she replied.

She pushed herself away from Sonic, while still sitting on the stool, the wheels on it rolling her over to a desk, where she was getting a clipboard and a pen, before she returned to the hedgehog the same way.

"Alright, now I want you to tell me all you can about the symptoms you have and when they started, as much as you remember.," she explained, getting ready to write down everything she would hear.

* * *

Meanwhile:

Sitting in the foyer wasn't exactly a fun doing, but it was definitely better than being around a ghost, Amy thought.

Still, watching Mali type away was getting old quickly and she wished, that something would happen here, anything would be fine.

She perked up, when the door opened and she turned around expectantly, but it was just a human deliverer, having a hand truck with him, on that were stapled several boxes of all possible sizes, it seemed.

He pushed it over to Mali's desk and got out a clipboard. "I've got a delivery for-" "Don't bother, I'll come over.," Mali interrupted and let her wheelchair bring her around the desk and to him.

The young man watched her with a dropped jaw, letting her take the clipboard and check the deliveries personally.

His eyes stayed glued to her, but like with Shadow before, Mali simply ignored it. She seemed used to such a behavior.

"Seems all alright. You can just leave it here, thank you.," she said eventually and gave him back the clipboard, after signing the papers.

He took it, still with a dropped jaw. "E-excuse m-me, b-but...d-did those hedgehogs do this to you?," he stammered, gesturing helplessly to her wheelchair and whispering, as if 'the hedgehogs' could jump them any second.

Mali stared up to him for a few seconds, before leaning back and exhaling. "Yes, they did.," she answered calmly.

The expression of her eyes hardened. "If those four hedgehogs hadn't found me in that side alley, hadn't heard my screams, pushed my attacker to the side and done everything in their power to save me, I would be either paralyzed from my neck down, or dead. And there doesn't pass a single day, in that they don't come to me to apologize for not being able to save my ability to walk."

Her glare turned cold and calculating. "So, do you have the balls to apologize towards _me_ for ever assuming, that I'm held as a helpless prisoner?," she asked with a snarl.

"I...er..." The poor man had fidgeted the whole time under her glare and after her question, he just fled – and the mobians could say, that they had never before seen a human run this fast.

Mali rolled her eyes at his retreating figure, shaking her head. "Such a coward.," she muttered, before turning to the boxes.

"-embarrassing. Really, I thought, I'd die.," a voice suddenly said and everyone turned around to see a light turquoise furred cat and a yellow furred mongoose come in the foyer through the hallway Sonic and Kylie had disappeared to, the latter of the girls was blushing madly.

"Nobody _ever_ died from blushing. And I should know that – I'm an expert for near death-experiences.," the cat replied, throwing her fist against her chest.

The other girl looked at her. "That's no reason to be proud.," she frowned. "You think?," the cat asked surprised.

"Mina, DJ!," Mali called them and the girls looked over to her. "Could you help me with these boxes? A few of them need to be brought in the kitchens.," Mali told them, gesturing to the abandoned handcart. It didn't seem strange to the girls, that the handcart didn't have an owner.

"Sure, no problem.," the cat grinned and they came over to get the boxes she meant. "Everything okay? You seem a little upset!," she noticed, just before she could grab the first box.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. People just seem to think, that today is 'We anger Mali'-day, or something like that.," the young female sighed. "Really!? Tell me, who angered you, and I'll make them pay!," the cat suggested eagerly.

Mali raised a brow. "DJ, last week you got yourself a concussion by opening a door. I don't see you taking revenge for me anytime soon.," she deadpanned.

"You have a few accidents and soon you aren't trusted anymore with blowing your nose on your own.," the cat, apparently DJ, pouted. "Didn't you somehow manage to break your nose once doing that?," Mali smirked.

Tails, Amy and Knuckles, who listened in involuntarily, sweatdropped. This girl was apparently a walking accident...

The cat just grabbed a few boxes and raised her nose in the air. "I won't grace this insolence with an answer.," she grumbled and went away.

Mina and Mali exchanged a little grin, before the mongoose grabbed her share of the luggage and ran after her friend.

Mali smiled after them, before returning behind her desk, leaving the last few boxes on the handcart.

She grabbed the telephone, dialed and put it to her ear, waiting. She drummed her fingers impatiently, before finally hanging up and dialing again.

"Come on, come on...," she mumbled, before she straightened. "Finally, what took you so long!?," she snapped.

She deflated a little again. "Sorry. ...No, I'm really sorry. I'm just having a bad day." She chuckled tiredly. "Yes, this can also happen to me.," she smiled. "...Right, could you come over and do my job for a while? I need to go to the garage. ...Already tried that, nobody's answering. And I can't ask one of the robots. Remember the drama last time? We needed two weeks to find all of Bokkun's parts again. I should be happy, if they leave my wheelchair untouched. ...Er, no. Last time, you almost dehydrated down there. I get, that you are into this inventing and researching and tinkering, but you have no mate or brother/sister, who provides you with food down there. So I'm doing this – and you replace me here for a bit. ...Five minutes? Alright, I'll get going then, bye. And thanks!"

Hanging up, she moved back to the remaining boxes and proceeded to take them on her lap, when Tails approached her shyly. "Er...S-sorry, c-could I please come with you to this garage?," he asked carefully. What he had heard in her talk just now had sounded so tempting! Inventing and researching and tinkering – this was, what he loved the most! If there was such a place here, he needed to see that!

Mali blinked at him and then at the two others behind him, looking determined not to let the youngest of them alone with her. Looking back at the fox and seeing his innocent curiosity, she chuckled. "Under one condition."

"Which one?," Tails asked immediately and stumbled a little, when Mali pushed the box she had had on her lap in his arms. "You carry the boxes.," she grinned.

* * *

"Alright..." Kylie wrote down the last few notes and then checked, what she had written down before.

"Could you tell me about those dreams? I mean, do you remember them?," she asked thoughtfully, reading the point in her notes, that indicated, that Sonic was lacking sleep because of them.

Sonic blushed. "W-well...do I have to?" "Sonic, right now, I need to know everything. Besides, I'm a doctor – and your friend. Nothing, that you will tell me in here, will leave this room."

Well, technically, she was a veterinarian and had never sworn this oath of silence, that other doctors did, since her usual patients had no say in that matter (literally), but she meant, that they were friends and as such, she would keep his secrets.

"And what about this 'Nicole'?," Sonic countered. "Nicole?," Kylie asked loudly, not missing a beat. "Yes?," the same voice from before answered. "Would you please block yourself out of this room, until the end of the day?"

"Of course." And it became suddenly silent. "Problem solved.," Kylie told him, smiling proudly.

Sonic frowned in thought. He remembered this voice now, it had warned him and his friends of the flying dark seme earlier, before he could crash into them. He made a mental note to ask about this later.

"Do you really think, that you will need all day for this examination?," he asked instead. "No, but I rather put a big time limit on it and not a small one. I hate it to rush, when it comes to medicine. Now, the dreams."

Sonic groaned internally and looked down. "Fine.," he gave up. "Those dreams always start the same. Shadow and me are about to... well... do...well... do 'it'..."

Chaos, that was embarrassing. Kylie, however, wasn't commenting at all, she was simply listening, giving him all the time he needed, without asking for details.

"We just...well, do, what we usually do, when we're alone, but in my dreams, I always want...more, I think. We're always interrupted, every time by something different. Last time, it was... Perringten... halfway rotten."

"Definitely a not very nice way to wake up.," Kylie commented, moving away again, rolling over to the desk, grabbing one of the books she had lined up there, opening and leafing through it, stopping sometimes to read a sentence, before leafing further, until she had found whatever she had looked for and carefully read.

"I see.," she mumbled to herself after a minute, or two. "Sonic, would you agree, that the second halves of your dreams, the ones, that are always different, become worse every time?," she asked, still reading.

"Absolutely.," Sonic nodded without hesitation. Between Tails and Cream almost barging in the room and a halfway rotten Perringten were _dimensions_.

Kylie frowned. "Okay, this might become a problem.," she declared, put the book aside, grabbed another, leafed through it and opened a double page at the beginning, her index finger going through the lines.

"In what way?," Sonic asked, not sure, if he could interrupt her. "Your mind is trying to tell you, that your body is ready for the next step, meaning getting intimate with Shadow...all the way, you see?"

"Yeah..." Kylie was thankfully still distracted and didn't see Sonic pretty much changing color from blue to red behind her.

"It is absolutely normal, that the mind of someone your age starts to imagine the first time. And here is, where your problem starts. You already _had_ your first time. It was rape, but that doesn't interest your brain. It needs the information, so it simply takes it. Your mind, however, refuses to put Shadow in the position of the rapist and forces you to wake up, before the dream can escalate. This caused your lack of-"

"Kylie." The strangled word shut the woman up immediately and let her turn around. Sonic sat, where he had been sitting, but this time, with his hands on his knees and his head hung low.

"...How do you...know of the rape?," he asked silently. He did remember all of the details, if only in his dreams mostly, but Kylie had never been part of this. So, how could she know? Sure, she had been the one telling him about the miscarriage so she had been bound to know, that something had happened, but they had never talked about whose young he had lost. Shadow hadn't mentioned Kylie either, when he had recalled what little he could remember of that dreadful day...

Kylie froze, her hands starting to shake and she quickly held them to her chest to stop the trembling.

"I...I've been there. When it happened.," she whispered, forcing the memories back, that threatened to crawl out of the corner of her mind, in that she had stuffed them.

Sonic's head snapped up at that and he looked at her. He saw her shaking and sighed, his ears pressing to his skull. "I'm sorry.," he mumbled, averting his gaze again.

"Did you just apologize for being raped?," Kylie asked, with a microscopic hint of amusement in her voice.

Sonic shook his head. "No. For never asking about your feelings in this whole thing." "You have been through a thousand more things than me, so it's okay." "It shouldn't be. We're friends, as you said, but I never..."

"Sonic, stop. You had enough things on your plate, it was good, that I wasn't your top priority. Besides, I was in therapy and I have my children, I had help. I wasn't just sitting on the streets, slowly dying, having nothing. And just so you know, back in the hallway earlier, you helped me more in two minutes, than my therapist did in a month."

The two exchanged a small smile, before Sonic asked the dreaded question, "What...did you see?" He wasn't so sure, if he wanted to know, but the question, how they escaped this situation, was something, that neither of them had been able to explain, yet.

"How about I'll tell you later, when we are in my office? I need some time to collect myself and I rather have Shadow with you, if he can touch you, or not. Okay?," she suggested.

Sonic agreed. Shadow's presence did have a calming effect on him, he couldn't deny it. Besides, if Kylie needed time, he would give it to her.

"Good. Now, as I said, your mind tries to protect you, but from your dreams getting worse, I fear, that the lack of sleep is weakening it and it is only a matter of days, until you will relive the rape – with Shadow as the infamous star. I'm not sure, what it will do to your conscious mind, or worse, your instincts.," Kylie finished sadly.

Sonic swallowed dryly. "A-any suggestions?," he managed to get out. He was already reserved enough towards Shadow as it was, this would make it worse...

"Yes, actually." Kylie closed the book, grabbed a sticky note from a staple of those, pulled it off and scribbled on it, sticking it to the desktop afterwards. "There is a herb, that we are cultivating here. It will help you sleep, not deeply, though, so you will still wake up to loud noises, or shaking. However, you won't dream, you'll sleep too deeply for it. You should take it for two weeks, then you can try to sleep without it. If those dreams appear again, I'll prescribe them to you once more. They have no side effects, besides a very deep, comatose sleep, if you take far too many at once. I will ask Nicole to calculate the ideal dose for your metabolism, then I'll give it to you."

"How would this Nicole know about my metabolism?," Sonic asked confused. "Hm? Oh, right, you were in the bathroom, I almost forgot. You see, Nicole is an AI, built and programmed by Eggman to find a way to destroy you.," Kylie explained casually. She was currently going through the room, collecting things out of cabinets and cupboards and putting them on a table on wheels, that she pulled after her.

"And why are _you_ having her?," Sonic asked confused. Eggman usually only abandoned his inventions, when he had destroyed them to scrap metal.

"Eggman is kind of trying to date me.," Kylie shrugged. Sonic shuddered at the mere image. "Why?," he asked, unable to wrap his mind around this. Then again – when could he understand Eggman's motives, before he revealed them?

"You can thank Tails for that. He accidentally provoked Eggman and now he is determined to prove, that he is 'charming', by bribing me – as the only female person he knows – into dating him. He gifted me several robots and Nicole so far, but he can forget it. Doesn't stop him from trying.," she shrugged.

"And I thought, that seeing Eggman in nothing but a pink tutu in one of my dreams had been the craziest he could ever get.," he mused, making Kylie pause for a second.

"Thanks, Sonic, that is a picture I won't get out of my head for a while.," she sighed, before continuing her doing. "Anyway, Eggman fed Nicole with lots of information about you, so she is rightfully an expert for your vitals and system."

"Why would he give you such an useful invention? I mean, he wouldn't give something up, that he could still use against me. He knows, that we are friends.," Sonic wondered. Eggman was crazy, but not stupid, he knew this better than anyone. The mad doctor had to expect, that Kylie wouldn't give him back any of his bribe-gifts, if it could harm her hedgehog-friend.

"Because Nicole 'rebelled' against him." He could practically _hear_ her rolling her eyes, while standing with her back to him. "She learned a lot about you the further he programmed her, of course, and one day, she 'dared' to ask a question. He shut her program immediately afterwards and didn't get her out again, until he gifted her to me." "What question?," Sonic asked curiously. "She asked, why Eggman would want to harm someone, who does only good."

Sonic couldn't help, but snicker at that. "A classic Eggman. His inventions and plans had had always a tendency to backfire.," he grinned.

"His robots are a testimony of this.", Kylie agreed and returned to Sonic, with the table and the stool, that she pushed with her knee closer to him.

Sonic eyed the instruments on the table warily. Did he ever mention, that he hated examinations?

"Alright, let's look in your other symptoms, then.," Kylie declared and took an electric thermometer in her hand.

Immediately, Sonic's ears pressed down tightly, as if they knew, what she had in store for them.

Kylie saw it, of course. "Sonic, how am I supposed to measure your temperature like that?," she asked, scolding. "You know, my ears are rather...sensitive today, so, yeah...," he tried to find an excuse.

Kylie raised a brow. "Is that so?," she asked and Sonic nodded quickly, hoping to get past the plastic tube in his ear.

"In this case, okay." She put the thermometer back, turned away and went to another cabinet. "Then we'll measure the temperature rectally.," she said, as if thinking out loud, while opening the door of it.

Sonic paled. Rectally, as in...!? "W-wait!," he quickly exclaimed and Kylie turned very slowly around to him. "Yes?," she asked, as if she had absolutely_ no_ idea, what he could possibly want. "I... er...think, my ears will be fine.," Sonic reassured, trying to save, what was left of his dignity. "If you say so." Kylie closed the door, returned and took the thermometer again.

Reluctantly, Sonic straightened his ears and jerked, when Kylie grabbed his right one gently, so it wouldn't move again. Carefully, she inserted the tube and waited for the small device to do its job, watching, how the hedgehog's left ear twitched and flickered, as if it tried to run, in case she would 'abuse' it, too.

She shook her head. "You are a phenomenon, you know that?," she asked with a deadpanning voice.

The left ear stopped twitching and turned to her. "What do you mean?," Sonic asked back. "One second you comfort me like my oldest and best friend – that you are, don't get me wrong there – and the next, you act like my son, when he was six and tried to bribe his pediatrician with his pocket money to escape his shot."

Sonic chuckled. "Did it work?" "In his dreams, maybe.," Kylie replied. The thermometer beeped, signaling, that it was done.

Kylie pulled it out and looked at the small display, while letting go of the ear. "You do have a slight temperature, but it might have something to do with your vomiting earlier, it has probably put a strain on your already weakened body.," she announced.

"When was it measured last?," she added, scribbling down the exact number on a second sheet of paper on the clipboard.

"Er..." Sonic frowned in thought. "Before I moved to Angel Island, I guess." "You moved to Angel Island? When?," Kylie asked surprised.

"Eight days ago, why?" "Sonic, when I asked you to tell me everything, what did you think I meant?," Kylie chastised.

"You said symptoms.," the hedgehog defended himself. "Besides, why is living on Angel Island so bad?"

Kylie rolled her eyes, while she went through her previous notes. "The problem is, that you are there very close to the Master Emerald, that gives out constantly energy." "So?"

Kylie frowned at him, abandoning her notes for a moment. "You have apparently no idea from the effects Chaos Energy has on the body.," she stated, continuing her doing.

"Well, it's refreshing and can heal wounds and some minor illnesses...," Sonic listed up. "Yes, it is and yes, it can – if it is channeled. If it just flows, without anyone controlling it, it can make certain illnesses and even wounds worse."

Sonic's eyes widened. "That's possible?," he asked, completely surprised by this. "The energy helps all living things – even if they just consist out of one cell, like bacteria and your very own cells, that your immune system is built out of. In the worst case, Chaos Energy could make an illness or an infection on a wound last longer, since it's fueling both sides equally. And judging by my notes, that was, why you were getting worse lately."

Sonic needed a second to process that. "Why would Knuckles not tell us that?," he finally asked, although he didn't expect an answer.

He got one anyway. "My guess is, that Knuckles didn't know about this. He lived on this island for his whole life, his body probably adapted and channels the Chaos Energy unconsciously, it's used to the constant energy flow. Your and your other friends' bodies, instead, aren't, but since you normally don't spend much time in a row there, especially when you aren't well, you don't notice it.," she explained.

"Why were you on Angel Island in the first place? Did you have a fight with Shadow?," she changed the topic.

"Huh? No, this was more to stop Knuckles from killing kittens." And he told her of the echidna's and Shadow's madness lately.

Kylie listened attentively and sighed, when he finished. "And I had hoped, that Eggman finally gave up on me.," she grumbled, before turning to Sonic. "Their behavior is pretty confusing, right?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I get, that Shadow is worried, but he is overdoing it and I have not the slightest idea, why he and Knux make a competition out of this." He paused. "You don't think, that he's having a crush on me, do you?," he asked, feeling worried. He liked and respected Knuckles, but as a brother-like friend, not in this way. Any other feelings would just complicate everything...

Kylie chuckled. "No, I don't think so. They just clash, because they are the same type of seme, that's all."

"Type of seme?," Sonic repeated. He was too engrossed in their talk to notice, that Kylie was currently taking a blood sample from him. "All living beings can be divided in certain groups, that define their general character. And Shadow and Knuckles belong to the group of the so called 'Protective semes'."

She paused for a second to scribble Sonic's name on the blood sample and proceeded to check further vitals, while she continued, having the hero's undivided attention all the time, "Protective semes are very...well...extreme, I think is the best word. They have the strong will to protect the ones they love – family, friends and mates alike. However, every Protective seme has his very own concept of keeping their loved ones safe and since Shadow and Knuckles both belong to this type and have partly the same people they care for, they are bound to clash. When they get aggressive towards each other, then just because their instincts tell them, that the other has a total wrong way of keeping you safe. Right now, as you are in a bad condition, their instincts get a little out of their way. It should normalize, when you start to recover. You should move off Angel Island, though."

Sonic nodded in agreement. By now, Kylie just needed small taps on certain parts of the hedgehog's body, to get Sonic to shift in the position she needed him in to check whatever she wanted.

"What type of uke am I then?," the hero asked after a moment. "Definitely the Confident type. Most ukes pretend to be confident, but only the likes of you can keep it up in dangerous situations. Those, who pretend to be confident, but aren't, are called Masked ukes."

"What type is Silver?," Sonic asked, still completely unaware of his blood pressure getting measured and written down. "He is a Timid uke, they get scared easily and blush pretty much every time they are spoken to by strangers."

"And Scourge?," Sonic asked, remembering the green furred, blue eyed hedgehog, who was looking quite like him – and had gone through more hells, than he had, on the Island. "I'd say, that he is an Introverted uke, he doesn't really let anyone close to himself." "What about Mephiles and Fleetway?," the hedgehog continued.

Kylie chuckled. "I see you are interested. Alright, Mephiles is of the Guard type. Unlike the Protective ones, the Guard types care the most for their mates, long before their family and friends, but they let their mates have more freedom and range, than the Protective ones. They stay always close enough to be there for their mates, if they need help. As Mephiles can be at Silver's side in a second, he gives him the utmost freedom. As about Fleetway...I don't know. His behavior is far too unpredictable. If he and Scourge have ever a relationship, it will probably become clearer. Most semes are showing their type after finding a mate or boy-/girlfriend, not earlier." Kylie stood up and Sonic wondered, when exactly she had sat down...

"Alright, I'm done with most of the examination, but there are a few scans I would love to do, too. We would need to go to another room, though.," she explained.

Sonic blinked and looked around, noticing the small band-aid on his arm, a sign, that she had taken a blood sample from him. He peeked towards the clipboard and noticed far more notes on it, than before their talk had started.

"Hehe...I need to pay more attention, huh?," he chuckled. "You just need some proper sleep, your mind is exhausted and can't process too much at once.," Kylie replied reassuringly, grabbed her sticky note with the name of the herb for Sonic from the desk, the blood sample and the clipboard. "Come, let's go.," she nodded and Sonic jumped off the table. "Whatever.," he shrugged. "Highly motivated, huh?," Kylie chuckled and led them out the room and down another hallway.

She stopped shortly after, in front of a door with the word 'LAB' on it and knocked. "Thilo? Are you there?," she asked loudly.

"Just a second, don't go, I'm coming to you! I'm almost there!," a voice shouted, but not from behind the door, as Sonic noticed and he turned to look down the hallway to see a butterfly mobian rush towards them.

He had large blue wings, that started to become gray here and there and scraped along the walls, without hindering their movements in the slightest.

He wore a black overall, that seemed too big for his meager figure. His feelers were of an orange color and framed his face like hair, while his actual hair was black and short. His eyes were also black.

He landed in front of them, out of breath, as if he had run there. "I'm sorry, really, I am. Mali put this Tebian in my care and it took me forever to get him to stay.," he rambled his apology, while he caught his breath.

"No worries, I'm glad, that you could convince him. I'm sure, that Veit can need some rest.," Kylie replied calmly.

"True. Although, it shouldn't have taken this long, it isn't difficult to lie to the brute after all, his brain isn't exactly used often. He actually thinks, that my wings are blue because of my _diet_."

"Well, it stopped him from killing you.," Kylie smiled. "Yeah." The dark eyes slid over to Sonic. "And I'm guessing, that you are the one, because of whom this charade was necessary.," he stated, looking the hero up and down.

Sonic just shrugged. He had a strange feeling with this mobian, as if he was analyzing him.

"Thilo.," Kylie called and the male turned his attention away from the hedgehog and towards the human.

"Would you be a dear and analyze this blood sample, please?," Kylie asked, holding out the sample.

Thilo grinned. "That's my job, isn't it?" He took the glass tube. "Anything special I should look for?," he questioned. "No, I'd like to have the full spectrum."

The male grinned. "And here I thought you wanted something difficult.," he chuckled. "Give me 30 minutes and I'll have the results."

"Thanks. I'll be in my office.," Kylie explained. "Alright." The male nodded and slipped in the laboratory, closing the door behind himself immediately.

Sonic frowned at the door. "Like talking with a psychologist, huh?," Kylie asked and he blinked and looked up at her.

"Thilo is Blush's uncle and a profiler. It is his specialty to analyze others to foresee their behavior. He just wanted to test your reaction with his sentence.," she explained.

Sonic nodded in understanding. He had the feeling, that this butterfly had pretty much tried to do an x-ray of his soul. If they would have talked more, he would have probably gotten a complete picture of him.

Kylie indicated, that she wanted to go further and he followed her. "Why is Blush's family working here anyway? I saw a few of her sisters here, too.," he mentioned, but not, when he had seen them.

"Blush's family members are mainly assassins, but they do pretty much everything, if they are paid for it enough – and if they like the mission. I met Blush first and when she heard of all the hatred and actions the uke-haters had done so far, she wanted to help and asked her family for support. Her sisters won't stay all the time, they will leave to fulfill another mission now and then, Thilo is working for real here, though. From what I know, in Blush's clan are the females stronger, they only listen to the male chief, but to no other male. Thilo isn't half-bad, but as he's a male, he doesn't have much to say. The males are either the chief of the clan, which is Blush's father currently, or they are trainers, guards and/or nurses to the females and that's it. Most of the time, they have nothing to do – they aren't even allowed to reproduce. Here, Thilo can do a lot more, which is why he left the clan. Er...if you meet Blush, don't ask her about her uncle. She is forced to pretend, that she never had had an uncle in the first place, because of this dishonorable leaving; clan-rules, you know?," she added.

"What would be an honorable leaving?," Sonic wondered. "Death – or so severe crippling, that doing anything assassin-like would be impossible." "Okay, I'd prefer the dishonorable leaving.," Sonic stated with wide eyes. "Tell me about it."

They entered another room, in that were several machines. Sonic just sighed, while he entered after Kylie. Those things had 'Hold still!' written in neon colored, metaphoric letters all over them. What a bore.

"Alright, please lie down there, okay?," Kylie asked and pointed to a bed with a smaller machine next to it, while she walked to the only cupboard in the room. "Er...are you sure?," Sonic asked. With his quills, he would rip the fabric of the bed...

"Sonic, we are treating many hedgehogs here, all of our equipment is prepared for everything hedgehog-related.," Kylie replied, having guessed his thoughts obviously.

"Okay..." Reluctantly, the hero let himself down on the bed, watching Kylie return with something, that looked like a folded piece of silk.

She stopped next to Sonic, unfolded the thing and placed it on his body like a blanket...a too short blanket, since it only reached from his shoulders to his hips.

Sonic let her, frowning, since it hadn't sounded like a blanket out of silk, when she had put it over him – and it definitely didn't feel like it. In fact, it rather sounded and felt like poking tinfoil, when he stabbed his finger in it experimentally.

"What is that?," he finally asked. "A special foil, that is needed for the ultrasounds of mobians with fur or feathers.," Kylie explained, getting something, that looked like a giant tube of toothpaste, out from under the machine next to her and shook it up and down.

"For mobians? So not for humans?" "Humans and amphibian/reptile mobians have easily cleanable scales or skin, it only takes a few paper towels to get this stuff here off. Fur and feathers, however, need several washings to get rid of all remains, so someone invented this foil. It allows me to see everything I need, without interfering with the machines and without dirtying your fur.," Kylie explained.

"Okay, and what do you need to see?," Sonic asked. "I want to take a closer look at your organs, your heart, lungs and digestive system, to be precise."

"...Why?" "You've been sick for a while now and close to the Master Emerald, which isn't good, as I already explained. Not to mention, that you are vomiting very often and your stomach gets easily upset lately. I just want to make sure, that your heart, lungs, stomach and intestine are intact and didn't get damaged during the illness, since I couldn't hear something suspicious earlier. Sometimes, there's only something found, when looked at, not listened to. There is always the chance for damage, if someone is so sick for so long.," Kylie explained, squirting a good amount of a clear, colorless gel on the foil, in the middle of his torso.

Sonic gulped. He knew little to nothing about medicine, since he was usually unconscious, sleeping or daydreaming during examinations, so he was unaware, that there could have been damage inflicted by an illness. If he had only thought about it sooner. Was it...maybe too late already...?

"-nic? Sonic!" he jumped and quickly turned around to Kylie. She gave him an unamused look. "I know, that I probably chose a few words wrong, but could you _please_ try and relax? Your heart and lungs are working too fast for my eyes to see them properly.," she complained.

He blinked. "Oh.," was all he could say to that. Thanks to his metabolism, his organs worked faster than normal ones, even when he was completely relaxed. For doctors, that wasn't so bad, they could still make out enough. When he was nervous, though, the movements were becoming too fast for normal eyes. Kylie probably just saw blurs.

"Er... sorry.," he apologized. Kylie smiled. "Just try and keep calm, this is just to access, _if _there is any damage, I never said, that there might be. I'm just trying to be on the safe side, okay?"

"Are you always on the safe side?," Sonic asked. "Even when it comes to spontaneous rescuing missions.," Kylie smirked, remembering, how she had prepared to bust Tails and the others out of the Uke Institute, gently sliding the ultrasound device over his chest.

She frowned at the monitor next to her, that was turned away from Sonic, and sighed. "Alright, let's try it in a different way. Anything fancy you want to talk about?," she asked conversationally.

The hero blinked at her, confused. "Well, talking will hopefully distract you a little and slow your heart and lungs down a bit. So? Anything you have ever wanted to know?"

"Er..." Sonic frowned, thinking hard, but nothing came up, he was still too distracted with his worry. He had never thought, that he would ever fear for his life this often in a row.

"How about we talk about Shadow and you?," Kylie suggested and Sonic jumped, more at the sudden interruption of the silence, than the topic, his heart, if possible, beating even faster now.

"W-what do you mean?," he stuttered. "Well, before we reached the private ward, you said something about Shadow being very jealous and you pushing him away all the time. Would you like to elaborate?"

"Um..." Sonic was very sure, that he was blushing like crazy again. "It's up to you, it was just a suggestion.," Kylie shrugged.

Sonic hesitated, but then sighed. Well, Kylie would for sure not laugh... "It's just...since those two years, whenever Shadow tries to...go farther than making out, I'm pushing him away. It's always...like I'm on automatic, I barely notice it, until he stops and then I see my own hand pushing him away from me. But that's not all. Sometimes... I'm even pushing him away, when we aren't making out.," he admitted slowly, looking away.

"Do you have an example?," Kylie asked, interested, while dividing her attention between the monitor and Sonic.

"Well, in the winter after the whole Island-incident, I got pretty sick. Tails said, it had something to do with my body decompressing from all that, or something like that..." He frowned, trying to remember the exact words, but gave up pretty quickly. He had been out of it, when Tails had formulated his diagnosis, so he couldn't possibly succeed.

"Anyway, I was having a pretty high fever for a little over a week, so my friends and Shads took turns in watching over me. Shad doesn't need so much sleep, that's why he took over the nightshifts. Whenever Tails retired for the night, I immediately grabbed him and pulled him in bed next to me, to...well... cuddle, I guess, but when I heard Tails in the mornings, coming to my room, I pushed out Shadow, so that he landed on the floor. Every time. Why? I just don't get it.," he ended, forgetting temporarily, that he had been talking with someone. He still remembered Shadow's hurt look, haunting him for the ten days he had needed to recover.

"It's pretty easy, actually." Kylie had no problem with reminding him, that she was still there. He jumped again and turned to her.

Kylie looked at the device in her hand, carefully shifting its position. So carefully, that he barely felt it. When she was satisfied, she turned back to the monitor. Only then, she spoke further, "To cuddle with your seme is a sign of weakness, a sign, that you wish for protection and comfort. There is nothing wrong with that, don't be mistaken.," she added, when Sonic started to protest, although she couldn't even see him opening his mouth. She knew him well, didn't she?

"Everybody has a right to let go and be comforted, even heroes. Still, accepting the comfort is seen as a sign of temporal weakness by all mobians. You didn't want Tails to see you cuddling with Shadow, because he is your little brother and you didn't want to appear even weaker in front of him, than the sickness already made you. I experienced Tails' worry first hand, don't forget that. Since this illness was a consequence of the Island-mess, he would have returned in this hyper-worry and -guilt. You tried to protect Tails this way."

Sonic frowned, letting her words sink in. "But when we were making out, Tails was always out of range, he couldn't even hear us! Why would I push Shadow away still?," he asked confused.

"That doesn't have anything to do with showing weakness and making Tails worry.," Kylie explained, using her free hand to press a few buttons under the monitor. "What let you push away Shadow were your instincts. They were trying to protect _you_." "Protect me? From what? Shadow would never hurt me!," Sonic bristled.

Kylie looked at him, then she took a deep breath, took a few paper towels, cleaned the device she had used and put the device to the hook designed for it under the monitor. She took off the foil and bunched it together like crumbling a piece of paper, throwing the ball in a bin next to the door, allowing Sonic to sit up. He still looked pretty upset.

"Sonic, your instincts try their everything to protect you. If they wouldn't trust Shadow, then you wouldn't be together at all, okay?," she told him calmly.

Sonic nodded, calming down. "Good. Now, your instincts still live in the older days, they are unaware of how the times have changed. According to them, every time you two sleep with each other, you run the risk of getting pregnant. And there was a good chance, that your body couldn't take that strain until now."

"But...you said, that I'm not doing this ov...ovi..." Sonic furrowed his brow, trying to remember the foreign word. "Ovulating?," Kylie helped. "Yeah. I'm not doing this, yet, so I can't become pregnant, right?"

Kylie facepalmed. "You will SO take this class, my friend.," she sighed with a shake of her head. "Look, your reproductive system has been built out somewhere between your 13th and 14th year of life. In theory, you could have become pregnant since then. Ovulation just means, that you are _more_ fertile. You can still become pregnant outside of it, the chance is just marginally smaller. Besides, most of the time ovulation happens silently, meaning, without any outer signs. If your instincts hadn't protested, you would probably be pregnant now, or already a parent."

She interrupted herself, when Sonic rushed over to the bin and threw up in it. She winced in pity.

This had been probably a little harsh, but it needed to be said – hedgehogs were pretty fertile, which was probably a special measure, that Mother Nature needed to take. It meant more chances for offspring and more chances to let the hedgehog race survive. Since Sonic was an Alpha – one of the few members of the old colonies, who needed a lot of offspring – and he had pushed Shadow away at every occasion there had been, it was pretty obvious, that he was very fertile. One time was probably enough for him to conceive.

And since most ukes didn't have something like a period like females had it – this was solved without blood and over the normal digestive system in an also silent process –, they couldn't even pinpoint, when exactly they weren't fertile. Not even scientific tests had been able to do so so far, it was a pure gamble. From what she knew, the fertile and barren time periods even fluctuated – outside of mating season, at least. It seemed, as if Mother Nature had gotten out the big guns to save hedgehog-kind. According to what she had researched, some hedgehog colonies had been reduced to less than a dozen members by the epidemic, so it was kind of understandable.

Hearing Sonic dry heave, Kylie went to the cupboard and got out two bottles. The bigger one was just water, the smaller one medicine.

She went to the panting hedgehog and held out the bottle of water to him, after having opened it. Tremblingly, the hero took it, taking a sip and spitting it in the bin. "Thanks.," he sighed, taking another sip to hopefully calm his stomach. He remembered faintly, how Mali had said something like ukes getting pregnant the whole year, but it had fled his mind over this whole _I think I'm dying_-incident.

"Here, drink this. It'll help you." Kylie offered him the smaller bottle with a dark green fluid in it, that didn't look, as if it could be trusted to not be poisonous.

His thoughts were apparently quite easy to guess, because Kylie went to explain, "It's made of different herbs and works as a medicine against upset stomachs, vomiting and nausea. Best drink it all, that should work for a few hours." Sonic grimaced. He was pretty sure, that he _would_ vomit after downing that stuff, but he trusted Kylie not to give him anything bad.

Making up his mind, he opened the bottle and drank its content quickly, before taking a big gulp of water to get the bitter aftertaste out of his mouth. "Better?," Kylie asked.

Surprisingly, yes. He already felt his nausea die down. Nodding, he stood up, his stomach for once not complaining, and gave her the bottle back.

He then faced Kylie properly. "So...will my instincts push Shadow away forever now?," he asked slowly.

"No. As soon as we got rid of whatever is making you push away Shadow and everyone else, they won't stop you anymore."

"They won't?" "No. The ovulation and your dreams are indications, that your body is now ready for conceiving. Of course, the question is, if _you_ are."

"I don't get it. I thought, that I could conceive, since I was 13 or 14 years old!" "In theory, yes. However, that is the case for all ukes and females of the hedgehog race. Yet, barely no one of you ever got pregnant, before being legally adults, thanks to your instincts. They notice, when the body gives signals to be ready and until then, they stop every try of a seme and protect you."

"But when does the...body know, that it's ready?" Sonic felt a new headache form from all the information. "That's something, that not even science can explain, yet. Some hedgehogs get the signal with sixteen, others with 25. It's always individual. With you being almost eighteen, you're of an average age."

She clapped her hands, as if to change the topic this way. "Now, the ultrasound is done – and your innards are as healthy as they can ever be. Two more examinations, two scans, to be precise, and we're done completely."

"Hooray.," Sonic muttered, not so enthusiastically, but he was glad, that Kylie hadn't found anything. "Which one next?," he sighed.

"This one." She pointed to a table with something, that looked like a desk lamp attached to its side on the bottom. "Just lie down on it, on your back – and better keep your eyes closed, or you'll see stars."

"Fine. What does _this_ thing look for?," he asked, while lying down and closing his eyes. "It gives me a very exact picture of your whole body, to the last blood cell. I won't get the results immediately, because of the data mass, but in about 30 to 45 minutes.," Kylie explained, while coming closer and he heard something being switched on, that started to buzz and move steadily towards his ears, apparently it was the thing, that he had confused with a desk lamp.

He heard some noise, that sounded like typing and, how the scanner seemed to stop and shift in position, where it was. It could apparently not take his complete width at once. The noises were going on his nerves and he rather started a conversation again, but definitely not over the same thing. He was glad, that this topic was over and he had no intention of bringing it back up.

"Kylie?" "Hm?," the woman replied, rather close to him. "You told Mephiles, that everyone in a relationship shows off, correct?"

"Yes?" "Then why don't I feel the need to show off with Shadow?" Kylie chuckled. "Sonic, how many people in your range, that you deal with on a daily basis, are in a relationship?" Sonic frowned. "Zero." "There you have your answer." "What?"

"This kind of showing off happens usually between couples. There are always people showing off, that they have a boy-/girlfriend and someone else not, but you don't have this mean trait. If you and for example Silver would hang out regularly, however, you would sooner or later start to compare your boyfriends – and definitely not, because they look like twins."

The scanner had continued his journey during her explanation and was by now so close to Sonic's ears, that he couldn't tell, if Kylie was still talking, the buzzing was too loud, drowning out her voice and any other noise.

After what felt like an eternity, the buzzing stopped and he quickly sat up and opened his eyes. "Everything okay?," Kylie asked, looking concerned. "Yeah.," Sonic replied, picking his slightly hurting ear. Even the thermometer had hurt less.

She smiled, relieved. "Good. I'm sorry, I forgot to warn you about the volume. It's not as loud for humans, that's, why I forgot.," she explained sheepishly. "No problem. So, what's the last thing?," he asked, jumping off the table.

"This scanner here.," Kylie replied, pointing to a huge box with a hole in the middle, that was forming a tunnel through almost the the whole thing, it was closed off at the back. Kylie went to it and pressed a button, that let a thin, rectangular plate, like a table without legs, come out of the tunnel.

Sonic swallowed. He could guess, what he should do and to be stuck in this small room wasn't exactly something he looked forward to.

He didn't have claustrophobia, but being in small spaces invoke in him the urge to run stronger than anything else – and holding still was a struggle.

"Er... what is it for?," he asked, trying to stall. "It's to check your head. I'm a little worried, because the hallucinations appeared a good hour after you fell down a tree and, because you can't remember anymore, on which body part of yours you landed exactly. I want to make sure, that you have no brain damage, that might appear sooner, or later."

"Er...how long does it take?" "Depending on how fast you hold completely still – and that includes stop talking – just about two to three minutes." "You promise?," Sonic asked, worried.

Kylie's expression softened, seeming to notice his problem now. "I promise. There's a speaker in the tube, I can talk all the time to you, even if you can't answer, so you are distracted.," she offered.

Sonic grinned. "Thank you." He was still a little nervous to lie in the small space, but if it was really that fast, then he could manage.

His quills bristled nervously, when he was pulled in the narrow space and he almost jumped out of his skin, when it stopped, trapping him in twilight. "Okay, Sonic, can you hear me?," he heard Kylie's voice from behind his head. "Er...Yeah!," he called loudly, not sure, how loud he needed to talk.

Kylie chuckled, there was a slight crackle to her voice through the speaker. "No need to shout, I can hear you just- Damn!," she suddenly cursed, making Sonic jump once more. "W-what's wrong!?," he asked, worried.

"I'm sorry, Sonic, I'm afraid, this might take a little longer, than I promised.," Kylie sounded mostly annoyed, which was probably a good sign. It was better than worry, or fear, he guessed.

"How much longer? And why?," he asked immediately. "A few more minutes, I'm afraid. _Someone_ played with the perimeters. This machine is constructed to take in all kinds of mobians and even human children, but since every mobian has different perimeters like height, weight, fur, feathers or skin, quills or hair and so on, it needs to be programmed accordingly. And currently, it's programmed to analyze a lizard...a feral one, from the looks of it. I need a few minutes to calibrate it back, and it's actually easier, if you just stay in it, okay?"

"Alright. Who did this anyway?," Sonic asked, not having missed, how Kylie had stressed that one word earlier.

"I'm very sure, that it was DJ, the cat you saw earlier. She loves playing around with technology. There will be a light flash for a second, so don't be alarmed, okay?"

"Okay." Sonic closed his eyes and true to her words, he saw a red flash behind his eyelids for a second, before it was gone again. "Alright, it worked. Just a little longer and we can start.," Kylie reassured him. "Okay.," Sonic repeated.

"So, wanna talk about Shadow's jealousy?," the woman brought up the other half of their topic. "It's fine, just...annoying, that he even tried to go after Tails."

"How did you stop him from that?" "I threatened to break up, if he didn't leave Tails alone. I'm not proud of it, but I had no other idea of how to get him to listen to me." Sonic exhaled deeply, looking at the simple, half-round ceiling above him. "Sometimes, I have the feeling, that I can get him to calm down, but I don't know, how I do this. Is probably an instinct-thing, or something like that.," he admitted. Sometimes, when Shadow was about to lose control, he would notice it and call his name, like earlier, when Blush had poisoned him.

...Oops.

"Er, Kylie?" "Yes?" "I think, I forgot to mention, that I had a...run-in with Blush and her poison.," he admitted, sheepishly.

Kylie was silent for just long enough, that he thought, that the speaker was damaged, before he heard her sigh. "Anything _else_ you forgot or didn't see as necessary information?," she asked annoyed.

Sonic sweatdropped. "Hehe...no, I think, that was it." "Good. Well, I asked Thilo to do the full spectrum with your blood, so he'll find traces of Blush's poison, if there are some. And something tells me, that I don't want to know, why you had a fight with her.," she sighed. "Now, to get back to your problem with Shadow's jealousy. I think, that you are overthinking this. Most ukes in relationships can handle their semes easier, than a newly bought puppy."

Sonic frowned. "How?" "They let their instincts do the work, like you already do sometimes. Take Silver, for example. He knows by instinct, how to call Mephiles to himself, how to stop him and how to reward him."

"...Sounds, as if he actually treats Mephiles like a dog." "Yeah, you can compare it with that. Most ukes and females do that with their mates, they train them properly. In Silver's case, he taught Mephiles, when he calls out of boredom, when in an emergency and so on, he gives him hugs and kisses to reward good behavior and when he does something he doesn't approve of, he starts to cry. Since Mephiles hates to see him crying, it works better than scolding would ever do. His instincts and Mephiles' are working closely together on this." Indeed, Sonic remembered, how easily tearing up had turned Mephiles into a much nicer person in mere seconds...

"Well, I don't see myself starting to cry.," Sonic explained. "Never said you have to. You just need to find your own style. Since you have a public reputation, you will probably do this scolding and rewarding in private. Most ukes deny their semes affection, or put them on the couch, when they want to punish them for bad behavior – unlike dogs, semes remember, why they are punished, when it's done later – and give them an extra of affection, something they particularly like, like a date, or a massage or something like that, and maybe sex to reward them."

"But I actually like...well, the sleeping together.," Sonic admitted, embarrassed. Kylie chuckled silently. "Well, you don't have to punish yourself. Ukes and females have less problems with finding physical comfort in others. If you need someone to hold you, you could just ask Silver for a slumber party – he would feel, that you need comfort and provide it unconsciously."

"...You're kidding, right?," Sonic asked, speechless. He and Silver didn't know each other THIS well! On the other hand, he had been quite clingy back on the Island towards the other two ukes...

"No, I'm not. In older days, ukes and females were sometimes left alone for days by their mates, while they tried to gather supplies, or something like that. How do you think did they sate their need for physical contact, without betraying their mates? They cuddled with other ukes and females. They even went so far to making out in dire times, but never further. Besides, you don't have to punish him, not-rewarding him would do the trick just fine, too."

"I don't know... I'm...not even sure, what he would like..." Sonic's ears pressed down. There was so little about Shadow he knew, and he noticed it only now... He wouldn't know, how he could 'reward' Shads. He seemed to have nothing, that he liked particularly. The list of his dislikes, however, went on and on and on...

"Sonic, what do you think this 'training of mates' is for?," Kylie asked, sounding amused. "Er..." "It's to get to know each other, especially their likes and dislikes. You would be surprised, how many things mates learn from each other, when they just let their instincts do the work."

"Sorry, Kylie, but I really can't imagine that.," Sonic sighed, shaking his head. "If you want to, I can explain this to you. The scanner would be ready now, so you won't be able to ask any questions until the end of the scan, but you can still listen. I'll try to explain as good as I can okay?"

"Alright." "Good. I will be silent for just a second, I need to keep a button pressed to talk with you and I will need both my hands for the activation, so don't be alarmed, okay?" "Yeah, just hurry."

Kylie chuckled. "Okay. The scanner will start to buzz and vibrate at first, which is totally normal. I need you to hold still perfectly and to stop talking, until I get you out again, alright?"

"Er...yeah.," Sonic replied reluctantly and the speaker gave a slight noise, when Kylie cut off the connection.

And already, it happened. His foot and fingers twitched. Whenever he was told to hold still AND be quiet at the same time, he did the exact opposite. One part of himself just NEEDED to move!

He jumped slightly, when the machine around him started to vibrate and to silently buzz. He found himself spreading out his arms against the walls in an instinct to hold himself in the tube.

The speaker crackled. "Sonic, you need to stay _still_.," Kylie reprimanded. "Er...yeah, right..." Slowly, Sonic returned his arms to their previous position. His feet were twitching restlessly.

"Sonic...," Kylie warned and he stilled – just to have his fingers tap the plastic surface underneath them.

Again a crackle. "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!," Kylie shouted angrily. Sonic chuckled. Yeah, he tended to do this to people, who wanted him to hold still.

"Sorry. I'll hold still now, promise.," he smiled apologetically, not sure, if Kylie could see it, while he willed himself to relax.

He closed his eyes, the soft vibration and the buzzing, mixed with Kylie's calm voice starting to talk with him keeping him utterly at peace...

* * *

Mephiles watched with attentive eyes, how the semes in front of him trained, either working out on their own, or sparring in groups of two to four. He shifted his attention all few seconds to another male, supervising their process.

Semes training looked quite like an extreme boot camp. They needed discipline to keep their usually scarily strong powers at bay. In older days, semes had plenty of workout with their daily jobs – like hunting, chopping wood, getting water and so on – and the protecting of their colonies and mates.

Here, in this artificial colony, they didn't have these strength-robbing tasks, so other methods needed to be used, so that they were kept under control.

His ear twitched and turned to his right, his eyes following to see a seme with orange fur standing there in a fighting stance, but not saying anything. Semes weren't very eloquent speakers, when it came to fighting and/or protecting, most communicated with only gestures, growls or one-word-sentences, like 'Fight. Now.'.

This one was challenging him with his stance alone. Sighing, since he knew, that he was quite persistent, he let dark purple ribbons grow out of his shadow, their pointy tips blinking like sharp blades and the nine appendages acting like the tail feathers of a proud peacock at first, spreading out, before curling half way around his back and sides, creating a protective shield around these parts of himself.

The message behind this was clear:_ I won't fight actively. If you want a sparring partner, fight against these, or leave me alone. _

The male grinned, accepting the challenge. Baring his fangs and showing off his claws – semes usually trained without their gloves on which equaled bare upper bodies for humans –, he jumped at the artificially made ribbons, that had the consistence of steel, when he tried to cut them.

Mephiles let him try fighting these new 'body parts' of his, that moved without him having to think about it, while he kept looking at the others.

In comparison with the way semes trained, the way of ukes looked like a game. He had peeked on their training grounds a few times – of which Silver and Kylie were happily unaware – and had been surprised to see them rather playing around, just play-fighting and using their powers marginally and more for fun, or to get the children to laugh.

As he had found out later, ukes rarely trained at all and if they did, then merely their bodies, or their brains, because they drew their powers' strength out of their protective instincts. While ukes depended on them in dangerous situations, semes better didn't, because if they would, then they would kill every other seme in sight. They only used their instincts in absolute emergencies.

A scream, resonating in his skull, let him straighten, the ribbons crumble to dust in a mere second, and him quickly transporting himself away, not bothering with telling the seme, that the fight was over. The semes knew, that he didn't just disappear for nothing.

A mere second later, Mephiles already appeared in the room, in that he had left Silver, to see his beloved sitting up in bed with a mix of terror and surprise in his expression. "Silver, what's wrong?," he asked concerned.

The uke blinked, as if getting pulled out of a deep thought and then focused on his seme. "Hi, Mephy.," he greeted with a soft smile.

Realizing, that the younger male was still half asleep, Mephiles sat down next to him. "Silver, I heard you scream. Did something happen?," he gently explained and then asked, petting his cheek, to wake him up a little more. Silver frowned in thought, before he gasped. "Oh, I heard someone scream!," he realized.

Well, Mephiles had already figured that much. Silver tended to scream, when he heard someone else scream, while he was asleep. In the past, Mephiles had liked to watch horror movies, but only done this, when Silver had been asleep in his lap, because he hadn't want to scare him.

Most of the time, Silver had simply slept through the movies, unaware of the horrifying music, the bloodcurdling noises and the screams of the actors, before they turned into a deafening silence, or gargles, that left no guesses to their future. Just once, when an actress had screamed in fear at seeing a monster behind her, Silver had also screamed and woken up, but not remembering, why he had woken up.

Confused, why this one scream had been different to all the countless other ones, Mephiles had tried to find out more about the movie.

To his surprise – and luck – Kylie had advised him to ask her son Alex. He had been surprised, that the woman had trusted him with her child – and, that said child had been actually helpful.

As he had found out, Alex was as infatuated with horror movies, as he himself had been and known the movie, that Mephiles had tried to gather information about. The particular scene in the particular movie, as he had learned, was special, because it was real. The actress hadn't known, what would happen, her fear upon seeing the monster suddenly behind her had been real, not an act. Apparently, Silver had unconsciously felt it – which was interesting, since it had been recorded and the female hadn't been with them in person...

Well, it had been the end of his horror movie passion, since there was always the risk, that a scene like that could appear again in another movie. He could do worse things in reality anyway, the movies had been pure entertainment, like comedies (which those movies were for him, no amount of blood or gore could ever shock _him_).

Remembering, that there could have been only one other person in the room, that could have screamed, he turned around to see the girl Kari sitting up, with her back to them and seemingly trying to catch her breath.

"Kari!," Silver gasped, having apparently caught up now, too and quickly jumped off the bed to run to her. Mephiles stayed behind, his hand still raised to pet him. He tried hard not to scowl. He knew, that ukes cared for children the most, but that didn't mean, that he had to like, how fast Silver's attention switched over to her.

Silver knelt down in front of the girl. "What's wrong? Why are you scared?," he asked softly.

The girl just continued to shake, but her breathing pattern got a little calmer. She flinched, when Silver placed his hand on her knee and he quickly took his hand off again, as if he had been burnt.

Mephiles had actually the urge to check, if it maybe got burnt and he needed to send the brat to hell for it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you more.," he apologized. Kari just shook her head, as if forgiving him this way.

It was silent for a little while, before Kari gradually stopped shaking. "Better?," Silver asked gently.

The girl nodded. "Y-yeah, sorry for waking you. I just...I just thought, I've seen... Forget it, it had been just a dream...or nightmare." She shook her head and stood up, showing Silver a bright smile. "Thank you for caring – and for saving me earlier."

Silver blushed. "Th-that was nothing, really." "Still, thank you." Kari gave him a brief hug – she seemed to know, that Mephiles would not tolerate a longer contact – before waving once at the seme and running out.

"Silver, are you feeling better?," Mephiles asked, once the girl was gone. The uke grinned. "Yeah, I'm fine, the nap was great." Then he seemed to remember something. "What time is it?," he asked.

Mephiles told him the remote time – immortals rarely kept track of hours passing – and Silver's face lit up. "That's great, school's out!," he cheered, meaning the normal schools outside the Shelter. The schools the Shelter provided were generally having fewer subjects and were therefore giving the pupils more time for playing and other stuff.

Silver loved to use his free time to help the younger children with their homework, since he learned more by this. His curiosity and thirst for knowledge were insatiable at times. Besides, the faster they were done, the sooner they could all play together.

Running around the sofa and giving his boyfriend a tight, long hug, the uke quickly left the room then to wait for the first ones to come from school, leaving Mephiles alone.

The seme smiled after him for a few seconds, before he turned serious. The door slammed close and locked itself.

Dark purple energy started to move in waves off him, starting at his feet, moving along the floor, up the walls and ending on the ceiling, right above him.

This method helped him to make all auras in the room visible. Since auras dissipated usually quickly, it was safe to say, that all auras he saw now were recent. First, he saw the auras he would be able to see, if he changed his sight, originating from himself, Kari, Silver and Shadow, the colorful silhouettes showing their movements, while being here, the darker ones being younger, than the lighter silhouettes.

A few more, stronger waves were necessary, until he had found, what he had been looking for. Close to Kari's gentle, light pink aura was another one, showing a menacing gray color. Unlike the other auras, this one didn't have a shape, It rather looked like a thin veil, like fog.

He narrowed his eyes. As he had thought, the girl hadn't have a nightmare. Someone had been right in front of her, when she had opened her eyes. Someone, who knew, how to mask an aura. Someone, who could as quickly disappear, as he himself could appear. In other words – a threat. Scowling, he disappeared.

* * *

_He moaned wantonly,while gentle hands traced down his body, the fingertips touching just the right places to send shivers down his spine. _

"_Sh-Shadow...," he whimpered, his hips bucking against the hedgehog over him, while the rest of his body felt like mush under those capable fingers. "Please... more...," he begged and growling possessively, the seme leaned down to fulfill the request, nipping and licking every single one of the mapped-out places he had found so far, going to deeper located places of his love's body each time, drawing passionate moans out of his uke. He was close, so very close to-_

_It broke the atmosphere of passion like a hammer hitting a glass orb._

_Laughter. _

_Cruel, cold laughter. His eyes shot open. Their surroundings were completely swallowed by darkness, nothing outside the bed could be distinguished. The only thing he saw, was the pair of huge, glowing red eyes, staring at him without blinking, coldly, calculating, sticking out of the darkness like two ghost lights. The eyes seemed to grow, to wrap around their bed, to squeeze it..._

* * *

"AAAHHH!" With a scream, Sonic jumped up. Something wet touched him during the upwards movement and he instantly moved sideways away from it, which let him smack his head against something hard, that didn't give way in the slightest.

"Ow..." Groaning, he held his head, leaning against what he saw now was a wall, that was also responsible for his headache.

It took him a few minutes to calm down, to let the pain in his poor skull subside and to realize, that he had just dreamed again.

"Sonic?," a voice asked and he jerked around to it, but it was just Kylie, who looked at him, worried. For a second, he had actually thought, that it was the owner of those scary eyes.

He smiled weakly. "Hey.," he greeted, his voice a little raspy. Kylie smiled softly. "Hey. Another nightmare, huh?" "Yeah.," Sonic nodded. "Wanna talk about it?," Kylie asked with sympathy.

The hedgehog actually contemplated it, but then, his memory caught up to him and he remembered, that he hadn't been in this room before. It was a simple one, with light blue walls and a window behind the bed he sat in. A simple wooden door was opposite the window. There was a little sink in the corner in front of the window and a chair next to the bed, on that Kylie sat. Otherwise, the room was bare of any furniture.

"Where are we?," he asked finally. "This is a room for our employees, when they need or take a break. I'm not a bad employer, if someone needs a nap, they should have the possibility to do so.," Kylie added to her explanation.

"And you thought, that I needed a nap?," Sonic asked with a raised brow. Kylie grimaced. "Not exactly, no." She pointed down on him and Sonic followed her finger and his breath hitched upon seeing, that his arm was completely black!

A shocked second later, he realized, that his fur was just darkened with soot. A formerly white washrag with black stains was held out to him and he took the wet piece of tissue to clean himself off. Apparently, this had been the wet thing, that had startled him earlier. He noticed, that the rest of his fur looked slightly damp and, that his clothes were missing. "What happened?," he asked, while cleaning his arm and hand.

Kylie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "You fell asleep in the scanner – which made scanning you MUCH easier, by the way – and when I was done, I moved you out of it. I wanted to wake you, when Thilo knocked at the door and asked for a private talk. I stepped out for two minutes – TWO! – and when I returned, you were in the scanner again and the whole machine on fire. Thilo pulled you out, just before the scanner could explode with you in the middle.," she explained, her voice trembling. The pictures were most likely still vivid in her head.

"How did this happen?," he asked. "When I was away, you had apparently a nightmare, due to that you raised your quills and dug through the plastic – which I hadn't known was possible – and damaged the mechanics, which caused you being pulled in the scanner, where your quills continued to shred the machine, so that it caught fire. Thankfully, Thilo smelt the smoke and pulled you out, just before the flames reached you. You had some nasty burn wounds and a slight poisoning, due to the poisonous gases you breathed in unconsciously."

Sonic frowned and looked down on himself. His body looked fine to him... "A friend of mine healed them for you, he even managed to get your fur to grow back in."

Sonic just blinked at her. He hadn't been aware, that this was even possible. "Where are my clothes?," he asked, not having forgotten, that his gloves, socks and shoes were gone. "Your socks and gloves were burnt, your shoes miraculously not. I cleaned them and they are now next to the bed, don't worry. As for the other clothes, I asked John to bring you some spares. Wonder, where he is.," she added thoughtfully.

Suddenly, the door was ripped open with a shout of, "-my rules, got it!?", from John, who just entered the room. The man had still short, brown hair and of course eyes of the same color, just as Sonic remembered. He looked rather pale, paler than he remembered him to be, he also looked thinner and had dark bags under his eyes.

He looked down, while he barked that half-sentence he had entered with and as Sonic saw, that wasn't a coincidence: to John's right leg was clinging a mobian hedgehog. He looked a little younger than the hero and had bright red fur. His arms with fawn fur as well as his red furred legs were wrapped tightly around John's leg and he sat on his sneaker – which was, at least for a hedgehog, a quite comfortable and good place to sit. The hedgehog looked up to him, his orange eyes narrowing.

"You're mean.," he pouted. "What's wrong with two people loving each other?", he asked, sounding rather like a small child, than a teenager. "Nothing – if it doesn't happen in MY walls!," John growled.

"But we're roomies!" "_No_, you just attached yourself to my leg and refused to let go, that doesn't make us roomies."

"But it does – I have a toothbrush in your bathroom!" "And your favorite cereals in my kitchen – but that doesn't make us roomies. You never even asked, if I wanted you in my apartment and you don't even pay a part of the rent!"

"Why didn't you say so? I would have thought of something!" "Yeah, right. You don't have a job, you just cling to me 24/7 – and that's it."

"I could simply ask Mike for some cash." "No way, then he'll have a legitimate reason to appear all three days on my doorstep."

"I really don't see, what your problem is. He's coming for me, not you." "You still make out in MY bed, while I'M present!"

"So put some earplugs in, or headphones, then you don't have to hear us." "And HOW does this stop your quills from digging in my leg?" "Come on, I heal you every time." "Doesn't stop the pain!"

Since the argument didn't seem to stop either, Kylie did so by clearing her throat. Both males whipped around to her. "Are you crazy, married people done with fighting?," she asked, sounding bored, yet amused. John turned red in less than a second. "We aren't married!," he cried out angrily.

The hedgehog frowned in thought, but then looked up. "Pssst, John!," he whispered loudly. "Huh?," the man looked down on him. "If we were married – would we then be roomies?" "Ugh, you're hopeless!" John looked as if he wanted to pull his own hair, but as Sonic could see now, his hands were full: one was holding a white, small bundle and the other a big mug, that was steaming. It looked as if he wanted to throw the mug to have at least one hand free, but the red hedgehog reacted immediately and bit strongly in his jeans-clothed calf, actually drawing blood.

"OW! Are you nuts!?," John shouted, but he amazingly didn't even flinch or spill the steaming liquid in the mug, as if he was used to this.

"Don't waste medicine.," the mobian told him strictly, now acting like an adult, and placed his hand on the bite wound, that started to glow.

When he took it off a second later, there were small holes surrounded by blood in the jeans, but no wounds under the fabric. "There, all better.," he grinned, again a child. "Doesn't. Stop. The pain!," John hissed. "See it as punishment. You know, how I feel about wasting resources." The male had switched back to being an adult.

"We have plenty of this stuff!," John retaliated. "Doesn't mean, that we need to waste it. _Plenty_ runs out, too, eventually, you know?"

"GUYS!," Kylie shouted, seemingly fed up now. "If you just continue to waste everyone's time, you can go outside.," she growled, pointing to the door behind them, that was still open.

The red hedgehog chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll keep him in line." Back to being a child. He stood up and grabbed the things John was actually holding out for him to take.

They seemed to have some kind of secret understanding, an unconscious dynamic, as if they were, besides their fights, best friends.

It reminded Sonic quite a bit of Knuckles and himself. They, too, loved to fight with each other, but stuck together in times of need, showing a teamwork, that they had never trained. Watching the other fight had given them a certain clue of the other's reflexes, so they could work together with unconscious – instinctual – ease. John and the hedgehog seemed to have a similar connection.

The red furred male, who had peach colored fur, that resembled in its shape a heart, in the middle of his chest, came over to Sonic and threw the white bundle, that split itself in two during the short flight, over. The hero caught the bundles easily, they were apparently the spares, that Kylie had mentioned. Sonic was quick to put the clothes on, finding them to be fitting.

"Here.," the red hedgehog gave him the steaming mug. With a confused face, Sonic took it, breathing in the unfamiliar scent.

He saw two differently colored flowers swimming on the surface, one yellow with the bottom part of the petals being a dark red, as if the flower's middle was bleeding, the other had a dark violet color with thin, whitish lines going over the petals.

"Although they look absolutely beautiful and make a simple cup of tea a masterpiece, you shouldn't try to eat them. They are causing severe stomach pain, if they aren't brewed as tea. So, just don't swallow them, okay?," the red hedgehog smiled.

"Sure, er...and you are?," Sonic asked sheepishly. "Hm? Oh, right, you can't know that! I'm Happy, nice to meet you!"

"Your name...is Happy?," Sonic asked slowly. "Not really, I just like my nickname far better than my real name.," Happy grinned.

Sonic grinned back. He could totally understand this – he wasn't too fond of his real name, either.

"How are you feeling now? Are you in any pain?," Happy asked. "Huh? Er... yeah, I'm fine. I banged my head, when I woke up, but otherwise, I'm fine." "You did? Show me!"

Before Sonic had realized it, Happy was next to him on the bed and carefully examining his head. Sonic's eyes widened in alarm. He was too close! ...wasn't he? Unlike with Kylie, his quills didn't rise at all, they simply stayed in place. "Nothing serious, it will probably just bruise a little. Do you have a headache?," Happy asked.

"J-just a bit.," Sonic stuttered, still stunned, that someone was this close to him. It couldn't be, because he was a stranger, right? Since he had kept away from his friends and hadn't tried to go out in public since then, he couldn't tell...

"Then it's good, that one of the flowers also helps against pain. The other is against infection, just in case. Some of the burns I healed were pretty deep, I want to make sure, that nothing got inside of your body."

"You healed them?," Sonic asked, astounded. He had to admit, Happy sounded and acted, as if he had studied medicine...

The male laughed happily. "Uhuh. I'm a healer, after all." "A- what?" "Healers are born doctors – literally.," Kylie went to explain. "They are born with medicinal knowledge engraved in their very DNA, that surfaces, as soon, as they hit puberty."

"So...you'll be a doctor one day?," Sonic asked Happy, but he shook his head. "Nope. You won't find a single healer, who will ever become a doctor, nowhere. The medicinal knowledge we have is WAY too outdated."

"It is?" "Yeah. It's instinctual, that's why. It's medieval, to say the least." Noticing, that Sonic couldn't understand this, he frowned in thought to find a better explanation. "Okay, I'll explain it like that: if someone has a terrible fever, people like our Kylie would ask for possible reasons for this, take a blood sample and give him a few pills to try to take. I, instead, would immediately try to bloodlet."

"What's that?" "An outdated practice to cure fevers and infections. You either put some leeches on the infected body part, or cut it deeply with a knife, to get rid of the 'sick blood'.," Happy explained neutrally.

Sonic didn't say anything, he just stared at him with wide eyes, having turned pale and green at the same time.

Happy, thankfully, caught on quickly. "Don't worry, I swear, I did nothing, that Kylie didn't approve of. ...I actually wouldn't dare to do anything without a real doctor's consent. I sometimes don't even realize, that my methods might be wrong, so I get always a second opinion.," he reassured.

Sonic looked over to Kylie, who nodded in confirmation, which let him breathe out in relief. From what he heard, it seemed, as if he had next to no actual knowledge about healing. A stranger, who couldn't even spell the word medicine, would have probably been a better help, than Happy without professional guidance.

"So, how did you heal me?," Sonic asked. "Easy, I can channel my Chaos Energy to push the natural healing process. I can also stop scarring and influence the fur growth." During his explanation, he had raised his right hand and let a gentle, green glowing energy appear around it, just like before, with John.

Sonic remembered seeing this even earlier. "Is Rio also a healer?," he asked curiously. "Yes and no, he is a so called 'healer-hybrid'. Those don't have the medicinal knowledge anymore, but the same healing ability. They are more common now, the healers are dying out – but as I already explained, that's not too bad. They are better, than us normal healers, since they aren't influenced by the inherited knowledge.," Happy grinned.

"Alright, if that's all, I'll be going to get chewed through by Mali, then.," John spoke up, buried his hands in his pockets and turned to leave.

Happy immediately jumped up, pretty much tackling John's leg and clinging to it like before. "I'll be going, then! Drink your tea, please – and bye!," he waved with one arm, while the other clung to the leg. Before the door had closed, they had already started to bicker again, this time about if Mali would actually punish them for being away for five minutes max.

Sonic turned around to Kylie, once they were gone. "Why is Happy clinging to John like that?," he asked. As natural, as their interaction had looked, he hadn't dared to question it with them present.

"Happy is in the process of healing John." "Healing him? Well, he looked a little sick...," Sonic mused, drinking absentmindedly the tea, that just tasted delicious...for tea.

"That is actually an improvement. He looked far worse, before Happy started his treatment a year ago." "A year? Why is he needing so much time? Does he use, what he calls 'outdated practice'?" "No, but a depression isn't that easily cured." "John's depressed? Why?," Sonic asked, astounded. Back on the Island, John had seemed to handle the whole situation well. On the other hand, that's what he had thought about Kylie, too...

"He had been relatively fine, when he had opened the Shelter, but then, he had seen the results of his and his father's doing. The broken, lifeless hedgehogs. Before, he hadn't really realized the true depth of their condition, you, Silver and the others you were caged with were practically the ones he saw as prime examples for how the hedgehogs would handle the whole situation sooner or later. Seeing the reality, caused a mental breakdown. He locked himself in his apartment, never opened his door, or answered calls or mails. I didn't know at first, that he was away for so long, but when I hadn't heard of him for three weeks in a row, I became worried and asked Mephiles to break into his flat. What I saw, was horrible. He was a mess, had paled, had lost a huge part of his weight, he was barely able to move anymore and hadn't eaten anything in weeks. His apartment looked terrible, too, the dust and not opening the windows at all even caused him to develop a slight asthma. Happy thankfully manages to keep it under control without much hassle."

"And how does he help the depression?" "By doing, what you just saw. He stays close to John all the time and carefully extracts the old John out of depressed John. What he spoke today, without Happy's incentive, was the most he had said in months." Sonic's eyes widened. John had spoken like a waterfall with Happy, but without him, he had barely gotten out a word... Yeah, he saw now, what Kylie meant.

"But why is he doing it like...that? I mean, wouldn't it be easier to just follow John around, or something like that?," Sonic couldn't help, but ask, while he finished his mug.

Kylie chuckled. "Easier? Sure. More entertaining? – Not a chance. Happy is a Playful uke, they love it to do everything the fun way. I'm pretty sure, that he can't even imagine another way to help him.," she explained. Sonic just nodded in thought.

"Alright, what's next?," he eventually asked, having just swallowed the last of the liquid. "We go to my office. The examination is done and we can await the results there."

"How long have I been out?," Sonic asked, since he had no way of telling the time, as there wasn't a clock in the room. "...Er...about thirty minutes, I guess. Without Happy, you would probably still be unconscious."

"Shouldn't the results be there already, then?" "Not really. We needed to switch off the electricity for this floor to prevent the scanner from exploding for real, that let all machines reset everything. Thilo needed to start over, too."

"I see. What should I do with that?," he asked, holding up the empty mug with the flowers sticking to its bottom.

"Just leave it here, the rooms are cleaned daily, someone will take it to the kitchen. We shouldn't stall too much time, I rather don't want to leave Knuckles and Shadow alone for much longer, as long, as they are this protective. I'm rather surprised, that the Shelter is still standing.," Kylie sighed, shaking her head, while standing up.

Sonic jumped off the bed, slipped in his shoes and put the mug on the chair she had occupied, before they left the room.

They seemed to be in the same hallway from before, just a little further down. Sonic looked over his shoulder and saw, that the door had the words 'For employees only' on it.

They made their way down the hallway. "So, er... what did you want to tell me about our instincts and how they help relationships?," Sonic asked casually, managing to keep the curiosity out of his voice. His thirst for knowledge was definitely sparked by now. "I promise not to fall asleep this time.," he added with a grin.

Kylie snickered. "You better don't.," she threatened playfully, nudging him gently in the shoulder with her fist. "Anyway, I was trying to explain, that mobians have so to say two personalities each. Their instinct-personality and their conscious personality. The older you mobians get, the more the two personalities drift apart."

"They do?" "Yeah. Mobian children are just bundles of instincts, until they are somewhere around six to eight years old, they hardly do anything, that their instincts don't suggest. After this time span, the children start to mature and have their own thoughts, diverting from the instinctual ones slowly. In old age, the drift is the largest. The instincts suggest at some time for the mobians to just lie down and die – sometimes, this starts up to 10 years or more, before they actually die naturally – while the consciousness wants to enjoy the life and live as long as possible."

"Why would the instincts suggest something like that?," Sonic asked and Kylie was actually glad, that she hadn't told him all that while he had been in the scanner, he would have asked too many questions.

"According to your instincts, 30 is the usual maximum age of a hedgehog mobian. Everything above this is considered a flight risk, so to say about to die every minute now. Someone of the age of 60 is seen as too old for the colony's welfare, since these people can't do _anything_ to support the colony anymore, at least according to the instincts. It is then, that the same instincts subtly suggest, that just lying down and waiting for death to claim you would be better for everyone. Back in older days, it was probably rather practical to have some mouths less to feed and less persons to worry about, but in modern times, it isn't anymore. That's why you don't listen to your instincts anymore from a certain age on."

"Wow, you sure know a lot.," Sonic said, impressed. "You only notice that now?," Kylie smirked. They passed the room with the scanners in it, as he saw from the corner of his eye.

"So, how do the instincts help couples?" "You need to understand, that Shadow is divided in two personalities, too. _Conscious_ Shadow loves your friends to pieces, just because _you_ love them. _Instinct _Shadow, however, is wary of them, because you let them so close to yourself. To his Protective self, everyone in touch with you is a safety risk."

"But you said, that Protective semes would protect their family, friends and mates alike!," Sonic argued.

"From what I know, Shadow has only Rouge – and probably the killer robot from earlier – as family and friends he had before meeting you. He has probably no problem with Rouge and you interacting."

Sonic frowned in thought. Well, it was hard to say, since he and Rouge had a friendly, but superficial relationship. They could act like friends, but kept touches to a very formal level – if they happened at all. Rouge just wasn't the cuddling type and at times, Sonic had wished for Amy to have her character in this department. But in comparison with Knuckles, who was apparently the same type...

"Why is Knuckles so accepting of everyone then? He had little to no problem with my friends!," he argued.

He still remembered, how Knuckles had reacted to meeting his other friends. He had apologized to Tails for his behavior during their first time meeting and done everything to get the fox to feel comfortable around him, had looked at the bubbly Amy with skepticism, but not in a bad way, had seen the Chaotix, Mighty and Ray with fondness for the younger two and respect for the other three, had seen the Freedom Fighters as acquaintances in the fight for good and Cream as a baby sister, like Tails had become his baby brother. Shadow and Rouge, as well as Kylie, Blaze and Mighty's friends as his newest acquaintances were also – more or less – easily accepted.

To his surprise, Kylie stopped suddenly, bowing her head. He stopped, too, looking at her from the side, confused as to why she looked suddenly so... Well, her face was rather unreadable.

"Sonic, the first impression is for mobians the most important thing. The way you appear in front of someone will engrave itself in their systems. This is, why you were seen as a hero by so many, but not everyone. This was the first thing many saw of you, but others knew you as someone else. I can't speak for Knuckles, but what Shadow saw first, was an uke kicking semes out of the cave – and breaking down almost instantly in the next moment."

She looked up and at Sonic's incredulous face. "In this moment, Shadow's personalities took two different turns. Conscious Shadow fell instantly in love with Instinct Sonic, who fought off the semes, but then, Conscious Sonic broke down and Instinct Shadow latched himself to you. That's the worst constellation possible, because your consciousnesses and instincts were supposed to connect, not doing it in this cross-fashion. The problem is, that Instinct Sonic was stronger back then, than Conscious Sonic and with Shadow's instincts latching to the weak side, Shadow's Protective type was fueled worse than a fire with raw oil. Basically, he thinks, that you couldn't even fight off Tails, should he ever turn on you – and I'm NOT saying, that he ever will.," she added.

"And how can I change that?," Sonic asked, feeling highly offended by what Shadow's instincts thought of him. Would his consciousness think that, too, one day?

"With your instincts. Instinct Sonic knows already, what Shadow's instincts are doing and is for sure highly offended by it."

"Tell me about it.," Sonic grumbled. "He tries to whip Instinct Shadow into shape, but Conscious Sonic stops him most of the time, because he one: doesn't want to appear rude, and two: doesn't want to lose Shadow. He doesn't realize, that punishments won't harm the relationship, but help it."

"So, during those times, when I know, how to stop Shadow..." "You had actually listened to your instincts. Sonic, if you want this to work, you need to let your instincts do this punishing and scolding, and sometimes the rewarding, for you. If Instinct Sonic shows up more, Instinct Shadow will start to see, that he had a wrong picture of you and calm down. Both your instincts will start to get close to each other, as well as your consciousnesses, like it should be." Sonic just stared at her, trying to process that. If that was correct, then... could it really be so simple?

"And how does this getting to know each other work?," he asked, wanting more details. "Your instincts will do this automatically. For example, if Shadow would love to eat strawberries, your nose would notice the smell, your eyes see the remains in the bin, or maybe stains in his fur and your tongue will taste them, when you kiss – and your instincts will immediately register strawberries as a reward. How exactly you use them, however, is for Conscious Sonic to decide." She winked at him.

Sonic contemplated her words. It sounded logical, he had to admit it, but... "Shouldn't I know some of his likes then already?" "Sure you do – of Instinct Shadow. And his likes are fairly simple – having you in his sight and knowing, that you are safe. Every time you are together, you reward him. But since you relay to the instinct part, your conscious mind doesn't think it's necessary to actively remember Instinct Shadow's likes and dislikes. Once you two have the right matches, instincts and consciousness alike, this will be far easier.," Kylie reassured.

Sonic nodded. Still, something wasn't adding up here. "Kylie, how did you know, how our first meeting did look like in detail?," he asked, finally remembering, what had bothered him all this time.

He had told Kylie about their first meeting, he remembered describing Shadow in pretty much every detail...probably more detail, than she had ever wanted to know, but the breaking down and the hugging and so on he had left out. Not even the throwing out of the semes had he mentioned, just that he had fought them off... Now that he thought about it... he hadn't even mentioned the cave!

Kylie smiled. "Didn't you ever wonder, what happened to the Island?," she asked back. Sonic blinked. "Several times, but never having a clue. Shadow guessed, that Mephiles had something to do with it, so I just rolled with it." He shrugged.

Kylie nodded in acceptance, before she went to explain, "It hadn't been Mephiles, but Shy." "The human girl?," he asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah. Don't ask me, why, but Shy has seen the Island as some kind of personal problem. She knocked out the soldiers Towers left there and used her powers to transport the Island away. She was nice enough to make sure, that the soldiers wouldn't drown, before she started to raid the complete building of all evidence and then destroyed the Island to dust. She gave all the evidence, reports, files and recordings to me, after hearing, what we are doing here. I read, listened to and watched a lot of these, so I know quite a bit of what happened on the Island and Paradise."

"But how did you know about the hugging-thing?" There hadn't been a single camera recording their doing in the cave, so...

"They monitored the semes' vitals, while they were on Paradise, to knock them out, should they show signs, that they will become violent...well, too violent, and Shadow's heartbeat was going almost through the ceiling shortly after the camera went dead." Sonic felt his cheeks heat up at that. Kylie chuckled and they continued their walk.

They walked in comfortable silence, before Sonic felt a new question pop up. "Kylie?" "Yes?" "Do semes also educate their mates?" "Not like ukes and females do, no. Their way rather resembles the educating of children. The only thing, that they don't like is, when their ukes either make them worry, or do something stupid, so there is nothing much to change. They usually say something like 'I'm very disappointed in you' – and the guilty conscious most ukes and females have does the rest. Otherwise, they don't do much. Their partners' happiness is their number one priority, after all. Since the ukes and females are usually better behaved and avoid risks, the semes are the ones, that need to adapt to their partners, not the other way round."

Sonic snickered. He couldn't imagine, what Instinct (and Conscious) Shadow thought about him being a hero.

* * *

And another chapter done! Sorry, that the end seems cut off - well, it is. I had so much fun writing this one, that I didn't notice, how long it had become. Then I realized, that if I put also the next few passages, that I had cut off, in this chapter, it would become impossibly longer with far more content, that I haven't even written, yet... - and I already needed a day for it as it is now.


	8. 7: Family bonds

Hi guys, here is finally the newest chapter! Sorry for the wait, not only is the chapter very long, I also had a lot of stress and - as a result - writer's block (...yay...). You probably already noticed, that I used my writer's block to reduce the number of chapters by fusing them together.

Anyway, please enjoy the newest chapter! As you might remember, I needed to split this chapter here and the one before, so don't be surprised, that chapter 7 does start a little blunt...

* * *

**7: Family bonds**

"Hm?" Sonic perked up suddenly upon hearing a loud, insistent ringing coming from the foyer, that they had just reached. A small whimper was mixing into it, as well as a low growl, that sounded familiar somehow.

Just a few seconds later, they stepped fully in the foyer – to see a strange sight. The first thing Sonic noticed was Shadow, standing with crossed arms opposite of the hallway they had just left. He stood in a ray of red light, making it look, as if he was under a single switched on lamp with a red light bulb. Something told him though, that leaving this particular spot wouldn't be as easy, as it looked right now.

Shadow growled again silently while he watched, which explained, why Sonic had thought before, that the sound had been familiar...

Rouge was sitting with crossed arms and legs on one of the chairs in the front row, the closest to Shadow, to be precise, which was conveniently the furthest away from the tall human man with the neatly combed, short and white hair, who stood between the front rows of chairs and was fixated by Shadow. His back was straight, his heels touching and his arms held behind his back, bent at the elbows. His shirt was tucked neatly in his ironed pants and his black shoes were polished. Still, despite the obvious military neatness, the former Commander Abraham Towers looked simply odd without his uniform.

Behind him, glaring daggers at his back, stood Mighty, hunched over a little and having a hand on his chest, as if he was hurting there. Judging by his glare, the former Commander hadn't been welcome and had made his way into the building by force and most likely by using violence against the armadillo.

The human ignored the mobian behind him and looked forwards, having a glaring match with Mephiles, who stood on Mali's desk. Even with the additional height, the dark seme needed to tip his head back a fraction to look him directly in the eyes.

Next to the desk stood another human, seemingly much older and definitely quite a bit smaller than the Commander, with short, neatly combed, thin and white hair on his head, pale, wrinkled skin and dark brown eyes, wearing a black jacket and light gray, long pants, both articles of clothing rivaling Towers' in neatness, and those looked, as if they couldn't even wrinkle, if they tried. He was standing upright, his left hand behind his back, his right arm outstretched in front of him, bent up at the elbow, his hand balancing a round, black plastic tray, with a single glass of water on it and a small white package next to it, on the fingertips. Although he had to have cramps in his fingers or right arm in this position, he didn't even tremble a bit.

Another whimper let Sonic whip around. Just a step away from the entrance to the hallway, stood John, every muscle in his body tensed, while looking at the former Commander with anger and hatred.

The whimper sounded again and Sonic looked down to see Happy clinging tightly to John's leg, his claws digging deep in his flesh, the jeans clothing the leg showing fresh red spots, where he had drawn blood. He had clenched his eyes shut, his quills puffed and fawned out. He was trembling like a leaf, as if he had been replaced by a clone with a completely opposite character. What was wrong with him!?

Sonic was just done with accessing the room's occupants, when Kylie moved swiftly past him and towards John and Happy.

She stopped next to John and pointed at the Commander, without turning around to him. "Not a word!," she hissed, and really, when Sonic turned to him, the man had just opened his mouth and closed it slowly again. Kylie had apparently other priorities here.

The woman knelt down next to Happy. "Hey, Happy, it's me, Kylie. Do you remember me?," she asked gently.

At first, nothing happened, but then, Happy moved his head a little, showing the tiniest nod. "That's good.," Kylie praised, as if he had just done something impossibly difficult. "Now, can you please let go?" The hedgehog shook his head quickly, holding on tighter, which caused John to wince a little.

Kylie didn't miss a beat, she stretched out her arm and waved Sonic closer, without looking at him. Raising a brow, he obeyed and came closer, until he was just one step behind her.

"Hey, Happy, Sonic is here.," Kylie explained, as if he hadn't been there the whole time. "Would you like to go to him?"

This time, Happy nodded, which surprised Sonic. They barely knew each other! Why would he trust him?

"Okay then." Carefully, Kylie grabbed the hedgehog, cutting and stabbing her palms, wrists and arms at his quills in the process, when she reached around his back to get to his sides, but not stopping. Grabbing his sides, she gently lifted him up and off John's leg, who sighed silently in relief.

Happy hung lifelessly in her grip, but the second she turned around on her knees and the red furred male was close enough to Sonic, he reached quickly out to him and clung to him with his arms and legs around his torso, so tightly, that the hero was pretty breathless for a second.

If Eggman ever wanted to stop him from running, he should just scare the hell out of Happy and latch him to his legs, the red hedgehog had a death grip beyond compare. Not even Amy could compete – and that was saying something.

Kylie chuckled. "Happy, Sonic needs to breathe.," she said, as if talking with a small child, that didn't understand yet, that real animals weren't plushies and shouldn't be hugged so hard. It worked, he lessened his grip a little, so that Sonic could get air in his lungs again.

He breathed in as deeply as currently possible, looking at the same time over to Shadow, who was watching the interaction closely and whose eyelid twitched a little upon seeing Sonic this close to someone else.

Choosing to ignore it for now, he watched, how Kylie stood up. "John, get this telephone to shut up.," she ordered. "Sure." Still a little limping, but this time in pain, John made his way over to the desk.

"Your aspirin, sir.," the old man said the second he was close enough, performing a bow and holding out the tray towards him, still showing no strain. "Thanks." John took both items off the tray, while passing the man.

"Would you require anything else, sir?," the old man asked politely, still bowing. "No, thank you. You may go.," John explained, while going behind the desk. "Thank you, sir." And the old man bowed a little deeper, before he straightened, turned sharply and left the foyer.

Sonic blinked in surprise, when he felt Happy letting loose a little bit more in what seemed to be relief, when the butler's steps had disappeared.

John placed the items on the desk and went to answer the phone, but talked in a hushed voice with whoever was on the other end of the line, so that he wouldn't disturb the others in the room.

Meanwhile, Kylie went towards the middle of the foyer. "Mephiles, are you here because of an emergency?," she asked calmly.

"No.," the male replied, not diverting his attention in the slightest. Two tentacles shot out of his shadow and wrapped around the woman's hands up to her elbows, healing the wounds caused by Happy, before disappearing again.

"Thanks. Please round up Happy's boyfriends now, will you?" "All of them?," Mephiles asked, for the first time looking at the woman.

"Yeah. At the same time, please. And don't tell them, why they should come. Just tell them, that I need them here." "Alright." And the male disappeared. Sonic blinked at her. Boyfriend_s_? As in... _more_ than one?

"I'll come to you in a minute, okay?," Kylie told Shadow, who had his eyes glued to Sonic and didn't acknowledge her.

"Rouge, would you require anything?," she asked the bat. "I have the feeling, that I'll need a bit of popcorn, soon.," the bat smirked, turning, so that she could see Kylie and the Commander.

Bending to the side to look around the Commander, without acknowledging the man at all, Kylie looked at Mighty. "Everything okay?," she asked.

"Yeah, he...just got me by surprise.," the armadillo replied, angrily glaring, but otherwise keeping his composure. He was probably more mad at himself, than anybody else, for being unable to stop the older human. "No problem, really. Do you need any help?," Kylie asked kindly.

Almost immediately, the mobian straightened, taking his hand off his chest. "I'm fine.," he growled determinedly.

"Okay. You may go, if you like.," Kylie told him. Just nodding and scowling one last time at the man, Mighty turned on his heel and marched out.

Before the woman could turn to the human man, a cold light filled the room briefly and Mephiles appeared with three other hedgehogs in tow in the middle of the room.

Sonic looked at them. One had brown fur and black eyes, looking distrustfully at Kylie, the second had dark green fur and light brown eyes, having his arms crossed in front of his chest and the third had lavender fur and marginally darker eyes of the same color and was fidgeting nervously. He wasn't quite sure, but he had the feeling, that the third one was an uke and the other two semes.

"Why did you bring us here?," the green seme asked with a neutral voice. "Could you please take care of Happy?," Kylie replied, pointing to Sonic. The three whipped around to the hero, needing less than a second to recognize the light red fur and quickly dashed over to him.

Sonic expected an attack, at least from the semes, but they came to a stop a few feet away from him, with the green seme as the only one stepping slowly closer. "Happy? Hey, Happy...," he called gently.

The reaction was instant – somehow, Happy managed to let go of Sonic, turn around and quickly latch to the other in one fluid movement.

Sonic swore, that he heard something crack in the other hedgehog's back where Happy hugged him, shaking badly, but the seme just freed his hands from the grip and started to gently pet his boyfriend's quills with one, while he carefully supported his behind with the other. The brown furred seme came to his side and cooed reassurances to the scared, red furred hedgehog.

Carefully, the two hedgehogs turned to the right in a synchronous movement and went slowly away and out of the foyer, while the lavender hedgehog went towards Sonic. "Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you, for taking care of him.," he apologized and thanked him with a polite bow, before rushing after the trio, joining the brown furred hedgehog in his pursuit of trying to calm Happy down. Soon, they were out of sight.

"Thank you, Mephiles. Good work, as always.," Kylie praised, once they were gone, before turning to Towers, whose face had a very ugly red-violet coloring by now and was distorted in rage. Apparently, he didn't like, that Kylie was taking care of everyone else first.

"Now, what do _you_ want?," she asked, sounding bored and annoyed at the same time, as if talking with him was preventing her from doing important things.

"You never answered my letters.," the man growled, seeming to fight to get a hold of himself. It was quite obvious, that he wanted to strangle her.

"I never answer threatening letters. Thanks for the black roses with the fake blood, by the way, my bin never looked fancier.," Kylie added with a smirk.

Towers' brow twitched. "Don't try to fool me! I want to know NOW, what you did to the Island!," he hissed.

Sonic's ear turned a little at that. Kylie apparently kept all information concerning this close to herself, but Towers had come to his own conclusions about this matter.

Shadow had never before seen the usually cold and collected Commander (former Commander now) this anxious and – dare he say it – lost. As if the only shred of sanity he had left was clinging to the landmass he tried so desperately to get information about. As if learning something about it would change anything for him. What, did he believe, that he would be employed again at GUN if he presented the Island's current location? Since when was he a dreamer?

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have no idea, what happened to it.," Kylie replied, her words sounding true. Sonic had the feeling, that she had just no idea, how _exactly _Shy had destroyed the Island and was now referring to this.

"You think, that I would believe that?," Towers snarled, before coming uncomfortably close to the woman, whispering so silently, that the mobians had to strain their hearing to listen, "I would be very careful, Dr. Ellen, don't try to fool me, or you will see a very ugly side of me!," he threatened.

"Uglier than your normal face?," Mephiles asked with a raised brow. Towers sneered down on him, before turning back to Kylie. "You can't lie to me, I know, that you know more about this and I'm absolutely sure, that you were the one responsible for me getting fired, too!," he hissed.

"Now you are definitely leaving reality. I was in jail, when you were fired, in case you forgot. I didn't even know, that you weren't Commander anymore, until I met Topaz in said jail.," Kylie frowned.

Towers' eyes gleamed at the name and he grabbed her arm, hard. "You know this woman!?," he hissed, dragging the female closer with a hard tug, that almost made her lose her balance.

"Let go, you're hurting me.," Kylie stated calmly, having caught herself almost instantly. Mephiles, Sonic and Rouge got simultaneously ready to pry him off, but it was a fourth person, who got him to do just that.

Towers just applied more pressure to Kylie's arm, when something large and brown hit the man in the back of his head so hard, that he let go and jerked forward and would have fallen against the quickly retreating woman, if it wouldn't have been for the transparent wall, that seemed to be out of violet glass and that was suddenly between both humans.

Towers slammed against it and slid it slowly down, his face getting contorted comically. The absence of a squeaking sound accompanying the movement revealed, that the wall wasn't out of glass. Shadow felt, that it was out of energy, for sure Mephiles' doing.

Towers crumbled to an ungraceful heap on the ground finally, the wall disappearing, once he had landed. The thing, that had hit him before, had fallen off his back during the impact with the floor. To everyone's surprise, it was a brown backpack, that looked quite worn.

Looking in the direction, from that the 'projectile' had come, Sonic saw a lean teenager with black hair at shoulder length, standing in the entrance. He wore a ripped blue t-shirt, that looked, as if he had had a fight of some sort. His black jeans also had a few rips in the fabric and his knees behind the tears were scraped. On his cheek was a slightly bleeding cut, and a bruise, too. His eyes had an interesting coloring, brown with icy blue specks, like ice flowers blooming on tree bark.

He had his pale skinned arm outstretched still, showing, that he had thrown the object and he stayed in that position, until the ex-Commander had gathered his bearings, pulled himself up on his hands and knees and turned around to the attacker. A thin trail of blood trickled down his chin from his bottom lip, he had probably busted it.

Seeing, that he had the wanted attention, the teen smirked, satisfied, and put his hands slowly in the pockets of his pants, stalking closer.

He went around the still kneeling Towers, grabbed his bag and opened it. Rummaging a little, he pulled out a rather large and thick book and weighed it on his hand. "As I thought, math. Tends to give others headaches since the beginning of schools.," he stated with mock professionalism and put the book back, shouldering the bag afterwards, grinning with a challenge in his eyes down on his 'victim'.

Towers glared and stood up quickly, facing the boy, who was just a centimeter or two smaller and who smirked coolly in his face.

"You little brat! Didn't your parents teach you, how to treat people with authority!? I demand to know the name, address and phone number of your parents, NOW! I will make sure, that you will regret the day you were born!," he ordered and added, seething and his voice laced with the tone Shadow knew all too well – it was the one, that he always used towards people he hated.

The teen smiled overly friendly. "But of course, sir. I can even save us both some time and do what you asked of me with four syllables alone.," he said, shifting his eyes to something behind the man, his expression softening. "Hi mom, I'm home!," he called, waving.

Towers' jaw dropped and he whipped around to Kylie, who smiled with the exact same expression on her face. "Hi, sweetie. How was school?," she asked, as if her son hadn't just thrown his schoolbag at another person in front of her eyes. "Same old.," Alex shrugged. Towers just looked from one to the other, speechless.

Sonic was surprised, that he didn't notice that earlier. Alex looked pretty much like his mother, besides the blue specks in his eyes and the shape of his chin and nose, that he had probably inherited from his father.

Shadow, who could, unlike Sonic, see Towers' face, smirked upon watching him go pale gradually. His thought process was quite obvious: he was outnumbered, two Ellens against one Towers. If he would stay any longer, he would embarrass himself beyond repair, the two would make sure of that – and this audience (ANY audience) would never forget the spectacle...

"This isn't over, Dr. Ellen!," he snarled, before he pretty much fled the building, far faster, than anyone would have expected from him.

"I get now, why you can't stand this guy." Alex commented neutrally, watching the retreating form, before turning to his mother, taking and lifting her arm, pushing up the sleeve and revealing an angry red bruise in the form of a hand on it.

"You know, that we will have a lengthy conversation about that later, right?," Kylie asked just as emotionlessly, while Mephiles healed the wound, getting a grateful nod of the woman.

The teen shrugged. "Worth it. By the way, the rascals are in the kitchen, probably looking for sugar. Silver joined them.," he added, looking around his mother at Mephiles, who grimaced. "Great."

"Something wrong with that?," Sonic wondered, coming closer. He noticed, that Alex suddenly fidgeted and turned rather red, avoiding his general direction.

"Kind of. Silver tends to have sugar rushs, when he eats too much candy. He then gets rather hyperactive and it can take up to two hours to get him to calm down. Last time, he escaped Mephiles and he almost tore the Shelter and the city apart searching for him – to find him sleeping peacefully under a tree.," Kylie smirked. "Yeah, it was _very_ funny.," Mephiles snarled, earning snickers from Alex.

"I thought so. Nicole?," Kylie called loudly. A spot next to Sonic started to glow, and the slightly distorted image of a lynx girl with black hair, dark eyes and in a purple dress appeared. She wasn't wearing gloves, or shoes, but the black fur on her hands and feet, contrasting with her otherwise light brown fur, made up for that. "You called?," she asked with the same voice Sonic had heard before.

"Didn't know, that you had a body, too!," he stated, before he had realized it. The girl turned red and looked away, seemingly ashamed.

"Sonic, that isn't a real...substantial body, you see? This is a hologram, an avatar, to be precise. Nicole created it together with the ukes, so she isn't a faceless voice all the time. This way, she is also able to learn more about expressing feelings.," Kylie explained.

"...Okay. Well, your...er...not-substantial body is...er..." Sonic wasn't quite sure, if he could compliment an artificial being the way he would do towards a real person.

Alex caught on first. "Nicole, Sonic is complimenting your choice of avatar.," he told her.

The AI didn't miss a beat. She performed a polite bow towards Sonic. "Thank you for the compliment.," she thanked him, although he had – technically – not given her one, Alex had merely stated the obvious.

"Er... nevermind.," Sonic caught himself. He turned to Alex. "Thanks, I was a little lost there.," he grinned.

Alex turned a darker red. "N-no problem. I...er...you know...er...I-er...need to...well..." Still stammering nonsense, he pretty much fled the foyer, down a hallway.

"Did I say something wrong?," Sonic asked Kylie, who smiled fondly after her son. She chuckled and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Remember, how I told you, that you are my children's hero? Hasn't changed for Alex. He's probably leaping over the moon with joy for being able to help you." "With my words?" "Imagine a fan girl in his place."

"Oh. Okay, yeah, I get your point." Sonic nodded. If Amy – during her worst times – would have ever been able to help him out, when he was at a loss for words, she would have never let him forget it.

"Nicole, would you please release Shadow out of your custody?," Kylie turned to the artificial girl.

She shook her head. "I can't. My programming doesn't allow me to just set free people, who try to attack or harm my system. I have to keep the person in custody, until the police is here.," she explained, her answer sounded monotone, like recorded.

Kylie facepalmed. "Right, I forgot about that.," she sighed, walking over to Shadow and crossing her arms in front of him. "Okay, what did you do? Nicole is actually quite lenient, so you have probably done something pretty bad.," she questioned.

Shadow crossed his arms, too, and huffed. "Rouge and I returned and nobody was there. I didn't want to wait, so I tried to hack myself in the system here to find the way to your office."

"Fantastic.," Kylie grumbled. She turned to Rouge. "Couldn't you try to stop him?," she asked her. "Stop him from trying to find out about Sonic's possibly current location?" The bat raised a brow. "Did you ever try to stop an erupting volcano from spewing lava?" "That bad?" "Uhuh."

"I'm still listening, you know?," Shadow growled annoyed. Sonic bit his lip, so he wouldn't join the two females in their laughter at his mate. His exasperation was kind of cute.

When Kylie had recovered, she turned to Nicole, who waited patiently. "Nicole, enter: Name: Ellen, Kylie, password: 450310 5423554 8093.," she stated clearly.

Nicole's eyes shone golden for a second. "Data correct. What can I do for you, Dr. Ellen?," she asked with this monotone voice. "Release Shadow out of your custody." "Of course." The red light disappeared and Shadow stepped away from the spot, as if he didn't trust it to not appear again.

"Cool, how did you do this?," Sonic asked. "John and I have master passwords. If we aren't agreeing with Nicole's programming, we can override a part of it temporarily with these. I figured, that this was easier, than organizing some actors dressed up as police officers.," Kylie grinned.

Sonic grinned back. He noticed a flash of black from the corner of his eye suddenly and found himself in the next second at the opposite side of the foyer.

Where he had stood, was Shadow, looking around confused, before he spotted his mate again.

"Shad, you_ know_, that I'm currently not too fond of closeness!," Sonic growled. "Really!? Because this red hedgehog didn't keep a distance, if I recall correctly.," Shadow hissed.

Sonic winced. He got, that Kylie had wanted to help Happy and John quickly – although he had still no idea, why the male had trusted him this fast in his fear, even if he was a hero –, but this move hadn't helped easing the tension between him and Shadow.

"You got that wrong, Shadow. Happy, the red hedgehog, is a healer. Sonic's instincts won't ever push him away, since he can help him. No mobian in the whole world would avoid him, ever.," Kylie explained, trying to help them both.

So that was the reason, why his instincts had had no problem with Happy! Well, Sonic figured, that it was better, than his stranger-theory.

"I could help him, too!," Shadow snarled up to the woman. "Not like Happy can, no.," Kylie told him strictly.

Shadow's quills raised. "Who are YOU to tell me what I can and what not?," he growled dangerously.

Sonic felt some kind of poking in his skull watching this interaction and he recognized it as the feeling he often got, when Shadow did something he didn't approve of. Was this Instinct Sonic? Well, just one way to find it out.

Instead of determinedly ignoring the poking like always, he just let it be and it felt almost immediately, as if completely new, yet familiar feelings filled him, as if he was gently pushed to the side, yet remained, where he was, as if words were placed on his tongue, volume and tone included, as if his muscles got scripts embedded in them, giving them a moving pattern to follow, almost like a choreography. It was a strange, but welcomed feeling.

Without missing a beat, he opened his mouth and barked, "SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!" All occupants of the room whipped around to the hero, who was a little startled himself by the outburst. Instinct Sonic was apparently a little frustrated for being neglected for so long.

He marched towards the seme. "Listen here, Kylie is MY friend – and yours, too, in case you forgot! I don't want you to EVER talk like that with her again, or you will sleep alone, as soon as I'm better, for as long as I see fit, got it?"

Shadow looked at him, genuinely surprised by the threat, before his glare hardened and his back straightened. "Really? And where will _you_ sleep? Don't deny, that you like it to be in my arms! Who will you cuddle with instead?," he asked in a cold, challenging tone.

Conscious Sonic was a little taken aback by the icy tone, but Instinct Sonic knew, that Instinct Shadow had taken over, and also, that the seme wasn't aware yet, that he dealt with another side of his uke – and therefore didn't even falter.

He stood now as close to his boyfriend as possible, who seemed rather confident, that the hero would cave soon. "At Silver's, I'm sure, he wouldn't mind.," Sonic answered easily and turned his head to Mephiles, expecting a reaction.

Said dark being sighed and nodded. "He wouldn't, indeed.," he admitted, feeling the urge to answer the Alpha everything truthfully.

"I won't let you be in the same room with this criminal!," Shadow shouted, pointing at Mephiles, who just faked a yawn.

Sonic whipped back around to him, his glare darkened. "Are you _assuming_, that I _couldn't _take on Mephiles and _win_?," he growled, his voice deadly calm.

Mephiles raised a brow. An interesting question. From what he had seen on the Island, Sonic could definitely become a challenge...

Shadow's eyes had widened at the question. He swallowed, his fists balling, sweat collecting on his brow, his eyes looking eventually down. The answer behind this behavior was clear.

Sonic growled lowly, both of his personalities pissed off now. Although it went against Instinct Sonic's being, Conscious Sonic forced himself to walk forwards, feeling, that it needed to be done. He needed to prove to both sides of Shadow, that he was strong – and conquering his instincts was ideal for this, since it was harder, than fighting the biggest fear. For some, it was impossible.

Sonic had reached Shadow and before both had realized it, he had grabbed his chestfur and pulled him so close, that their noses touched. Instinct Sonic had adapted to the so far forbidden closeness, it seemed, because this hadn't been Conscious Sonic's doing, and his next words rolled effortlessly off his tongue again.

"I want you to listen closely. You have neither the right, _nor_ the capability to judge me. You have never seen me giving 110 percent for Mobius, so don't think, that you can just determine for me, who I could beat."

With a small push, Sonic let go of Shadow. "You first questioned my loyalty to you – and now my strength, all in one day. One more slip-up of yours of whatever kind, and you can bunk with Rouge for a month, did I make myself clear?," he growled. Shadow nodded, his eyes wide.

Sonic looked him up and down, trying to estimate, if Shadow would listen to him. "Go now, and take a shower.," he eventually ordered. "What?," Shadow asked confused. "That wasn't a suggestion. A hot, long shower – and clean the bathroom, hallway and kitchen afterwards.," Sonic stressed.

Shadow just stared at him, before his nose twitched. "Sonic, why do you smell like fi-?" "Go already!," Sonic barked and Shadow actually flinched a little, before he disappeared.

Sonic took a deep breath, feeling Instinct Sonic retreat in a far corner of his mind again. Breathing out, he smiled up at Kylie. "Thanks for the advice, I wasn't half bad now, huh?," he grinned proudly.

"You were amazing.," Kylie smiled back, but internally, she was frowning: she had absolutely NO idea, why Sonic wanted Shadow to shower and clean these rooms. Showering was neither a reward, nor a punishment, just part of the personal hygiene, there would be no sense in denying or enabling this, since the partner wouldn't gain anything out of an overly clean (unless he/she had a phobia of bacteria) or overly dirty mate.

The cleaning of rooms, however, could be both, reward, or punishment. Cleaning up rooms like the bathroom, or the kitchen, were annoying tasks and semes usually had to do them, when it was their fault, that the cleaning had become necessary in the first place. The cleaning of the bedroom, the office of their mate or the room(s) of the child(ren) on the other hand were rewards in disguise. They showed the trust, that the partner had in the seme and this task also gave them the chance to prove, that they could be reliable and caring, by for example decorating the room differently, or something along those lines. If they did their task well, they could expect another reward later...

Letting Shadow clean these particular rooms would be a punishment, even though he wouldn't need much time with his speed and all, but it would be only fair to tell him, why he had to do that. Had Sonic forgotten this part?

Instinct Sonic wouldn't, she could imagine that much. Some scientists were convinced, that the most basic parts of the instincts in a mobian were far older, than the mobian him- or herself and therefore more mature and pedantic, less prone to mistakes of any kind. There was a deeper meaning to this order, but she couldn't figure it out.

"By the way, I wanted to thank you, Nicole.," Sonic turned to the AI, who still was in the middle of the foyer, apparently waiting for some kind of sign, that she could go. "You warned us, before this seme smashed in the desk, correct?"

The lynx girl nodded. "I learned recently about the concept of caring and paying back. After trying for weeks to kill you, I wanted to make it up to you. I'm...sorry." Her last two words sounded strange, as if she had never before said them. She even looked at Kylie, who just nodded silently, as if confirming to her, that she had spoken the right words.

"Thanks for all your help, Nicole. You can retreat now.," Kylie told her. With a bow, Nicole disappeared, the spot she had stood on becoming dark again.

Sonic turned to her, just when the light Nicole had stood on had faded. "Does she _really_ think, that she needs to make something like that up to me? I mean, she didn't REALLY try to kill me!," he argued.

"Eggman built many robots based on her analysis, so I guess that counts. Nicole deactivated them all, before he could use them, by the way, when she learned the principle of 'revenge'.," Kylie smirked.

Sonic joined her, imagining Eggman's flabbergasted face upon realizing, that his probably most favorite and potential weapons weren't usable anymore.

"Would you listen for- ARGGGH!," John brought in this moment attention to him, when he pretty much screamed in the telephone, before throwing it forcefully on the desk in pure frustration.

Breathing heavily, he looked up to see the odd looks he got by the other occupants of the room.

"Problems?," Kylie asked with a raised brow. "_Yes_, I'm trying to get Shy here, so that she can help me – but she doesn't even let me speak one stupid sentence!," John growled, glaring in the direction of the thrown telephone, as if it was its fault.

"With what do you need help?," Sonic asked. The young man rubbed his face with both of his hands in exhausted frustration.

"She's the best, when it comes to tracking people and she needs to find an uke named Lunar for me.," he explained, his words slightly muffled.

"Is his boyfriend finally tired of being stuck in his gravity field?," Kylie asked, connecting dots immediately, it seemed. "No, that's not the problem. Sonic's friend, the echidna, got somehow stuck in it, too.," John replied, letting his arms fall.

"Is that dangerous?," Sonic asked immediately, growing worried. John looked up and smirked. "Try hilarious. Nicole, would you show him?," he called loudly.

"Yes." Nicole appeared again at the same spot, as before, just like a big blue screen in front of her, hovering in front of the AI and Sonic stepped closer to it.

He clasped a hand in front of his mouth. Hilarious didn't even begin to describe it! He saw Knuckles and a hedgehog with gray fur, moving around an invisible middle, as if they were on a carousel ride in what seemed to be the upper corner of a well-lit room. They were always opposite of each other and also facing opposite directions. Knuckles had his arms crossed and was scowling at nothing in particular, while the other was sitting like in an armchair, reading a book. It would only be funnier with a fitting melody playing to that spectacle, but oh well, you couldn't have everything.

"How did he even get up there?," Kylie asked, grinning, while Sonic was still fighting his laughter and Rouge snorted and laughed from where she sat. "Apparently, one of the inventions backfired, and the echidna was in the way, he got thrown through the air and landed in it. Mali is stuck down there, they got their hands on her chair, so_ I _have to find Lunar. He isn't anywhere in the Shelter, though, so I need Shy.," John finished with a growl.

"I see." Kylie pulled out her mobile and, after a few pressed buttons, she already had a connection. "Hey, Shy, mind coming here for a sec?"

She hadn't even have the chance to hang up, before Shy appeared in the middle of the room, getting angry, unintelligible stuttering from John. His hands made a wringing motion, as if he wanted to strangle her from afar. "What is it?," she asked, bored, ignoring the man behind her.

"Could you please find Lunar for me?," Kylie asked friendly. The girl raised a brow, looking around and spotting the screen with Knuckles and the hedgehog on it. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards in amusement. "No problem.," she eventually shrugged and disappeared. Mephiles did disappear, too, without anyone noticing it.

"What is Knuckles doing down there anyway?," Kylie asked, once she was gone. "Beats me.," John shrugged.

"If I may?," Nicole piped up and everyone turned to her. "Apparently, Mist scared the group around the echidna a bit and they preferred to stay with Mali in the foyer. After some deliveries came and Mali wanted to bring them down to the Garage, they decided to join her.," she explained.

Kylie nodded in understanding and Nicole seemed to see this at her sign to disappear, together with the screen.

"Who is Mist?," Sonic asked. "A friendly ghost, who often hangs out in my office. He scares people, who enter it without someone he knows accompanying them, in case they aren't supposed to be there. He hasn't been around in weeks, so I guess, that Mali simply forgot to enter first to show him, that they mean no harm.," Kylie explained.

"What was wrong with Happy earlier?," Sonic asked further, not having forgotten his strange behavior.

The woman didn't need to think twice about what he meant. She sighed sadly. "Happy is deathly afraid of humans. Mali, John and I are the only exceptions. He's wary of everyone else working here." That would explain, why he was a little more relaxed, after this butler had left. "He's been on the Island, too, then, correct?," Sonic clarified.

Kylie shook her head, much to his surprise. "For some people, there are greater monsters, than Perringten and Eggman in this world.," the woman just told him, her tone indicating, that she wouldn't tell him more about Happy's story.

"And what about this hedgehog having three boyfriends at the same time?," Rouge piped up, making Sonic and Kylie turn to her, where she still sat. "Oh, that. It's nothing too unusual, hedgehogs are polygamous.," Kylie shrugged.

"_Really_?," Rouge asked, shifting her attention to Sonic, who blinked up at Kylie, apparently not familiar with the word.

"It means, that many hedgehogs have more than one partner at the same time, just like Happy.," Kylie explained calmly.

Sonic's jaw fell and he noticed Rouge's eyes on him. "W-Wait a second, I'm not-!," he started to defend himself frantically.

"Now now, Rouge, that _doesn't_ mean, that all hedgehogs whore around.," Kylie told the bat. "Polygamy means for mobians most of the time just, that they are able to move on and get another mate, should the first one die. It's opposite to monogamy, that mostly bird mobians are known for. If something happens to their partners and they die, they stay single until their own death. However, it also happens, that some mobians – especially hedgehogs – don't feel...complete with just one partner, so they have two, or more. But they stay loyal to every single one of their partners.," she added sternly, looking at Rouge.

"Why _especially_ hedgehogs?," Sonic wondered. "Back in older days, the number of hedgehogs had been reduced drastically, due to an epidemic. There were at times not even a dozen hedgehogs left in a colony and most of them were semes. Those, who wanted to reproduce, needed to share the remaining females and later the ukes, until the population had recovered and couples out of two people were reasonable again. And well, reproduction had been everyone's main goal back then. This principle of sharing the partner is embedded in your systems and instincts, but in at least half of you hedgehogs it had been reduced to the point, where you don't feel the need to have a third party in your relationship. I'm pretty sure, that you and Shadow belong to those, who have no interest in anyone, but each other."

"So, when I'm dead, will Shadow ever have another mate?," Sonic asked. Kylie felt another wave of _murdering Shadow_-thoughts come up, but restrained herself. "Most semes, who live monogamous, don't want another partner, when their mate died.," she reluctantly explained. It wasn't a lie, so she wasn't lying to Sonic, right? ...She just hoped, that he would see it also like this, when he would finally know the truth. ...If he would ever, that was.

Sonic didn't suspect a thing, he just nodded in acceptance, frowning in thought. "How is Happy handling three of them? I mean, this purple one is apparently an uke, but the others are semes, aren't they difficult?," he asked thoughtfully.

"Not like Shadow is currently, no. They have an inner hierarchy, that they follow unconsciously, like all couples have it. They know by instinct, who has which right and place in this relationship and they arrange themselves accordingly. It is a great help, that Happy is a Playful uke. Those kept the harmony in colonies with their distracting behavior and they do the same with their partners in relationships. Those four have their own system and balance, something you two need to build out first. Don't worry, you're on a good way.," Kylie soothed.

That moment, Shy appeared, having a midnight black hedgehog with small white dots on his fur with her. It was a rare color pattern his fur had, looking, as if the golden eyed male had been cut straight out of the starry night sky.

"What took you so long?," John asked as some kind of greeting. Shy whipped around to him and John's left sleeve suddenly caught fire. The young man gave a shout of fear and quickly poured the water the butler had given him before over it, sighing in relief, when the flames got extinguished.

The girl just huffed and turned around to Kylie. "Here he is, bye." With that, she disappeared, leaving everyone to wonder, why her mood had dampened so much this quickly...

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Similar to Shadow, Mephiles could link his _aura_ with the one of another being and had therefore no problem with following the human girl.

Her method of moving was interesting, she transported herself above the ground, wrapped in light and a curtain out of hot air, disguising herself this way, her own aura like millions of feelers of different lengths feeling carefully all around her, trying to find the aura she needed.

When she had found it finally, she brought herself to a secluded side alley to not scare the male with her sudden appearance. Experience taught her, that scared hedgehogs weren't something anyone wanted.

Mephiles appeared a few meter away from her, knowing better than anyone, that he was the last person she wanted to ever see again.

He wasn't surprised therefore, that he was greeted with a lance out of pure light, gracing his side and embedding itself in the wall behind him. He felt his flesh burning, where it touched him, but he didn't show any sign of pain or tried to move away. He wouldn't die from it anyway, even if it would pierce him completely – and Silver loved to trace his scars for hours if bored, so he gladly added new ones to the older.

"What do you want!?," the girl seethed. "I told Emma to keep away from your mate, but I can't keep a leash on her all the time, so don't blame me for hanging out with Silver still from time to time!"

It wasn't a surprise, that she immediately assumed, that he had come because of this – they had had quite a battle about this topic after all (okay, _maybe_ talking first would have saved them both the trouble, but he really wasn't a diplomat...).

"I'm not here because of that." "Obviously, or I would be already on the verge of death. _Again_.," the girl spat.

"Is it my fault, that humans are so damn delica-?" The dark being was interrupted, when he was thrown in the wall behind him by something, that had looked like a giant fist out of dust. Judging by the countless burn wounds littering his front suddenly and forcing his left eye shut, she had layered it with her light before hitting him. He took it in a stride, though, and just freed himself out of the bricks.

He had already noticed, that references to the weakness of humans set the girl off, but he had yet to understand, why.

Dusting himself off, while the wounds began to heal, he looked the girl up and down, seeing her tense posture and her lost stare, directed to the side.

Then, she blinked, her eyes focusing again, and she turned around to him sharply. "Why are you here!?," she snapped, clearly fed up with him. "Are you followed by someone?," Mephiles brought his question to the point.

Shy stiffened, actually backing off. "What!?," she asked, completely surprised. "Your other sister was with Silver in a room and woke him with her scream. She played it down, but I found a gray, faded aura around her, indicating, that there had been someone else in the room, watching her.," the dark male elaborated.

He paused and looked at the girl, who seemed paler than usual, her eyes wide open, as if a monster was standing right behind him.

"This aura...," the girl eventually started, having pulled herself together so far, but her voice was trembling and her body shaking badly. "Did it look as gray as a cloud during a thunderstorm? As gray as a sewer rat's fur? As gray as a gravestone? As gray as the ground we stand on right now?," she asked, not looking at him, but at her feet.

Mephiles raised a brow. She described several nuances of gray here, so she knew apparently, that the nuance of an aura was different for each person, not even twins had the same nuance, if even the color was identical. The nuance and color of an aura were close to a fingerprint – individual. Only the way how feelings changed the nuance of an aura was the same for everyone. Frowning, he tried to remember the exact nuance. "I guess, the rat comes the closest.," he finally decided.

Shy nodded calmly, too calmly for the dark being's tastes. He changed his sight, but was surprised to see, that she didn't have an aura anymore. She masked it carefully, which made it impossible for him to see, what was going on in her now. He scowled, irritated.

The girl turned around to walk out of the alley, but stopped after a step. "I can reassure you.," she stated, still with her back to him. "The owner of this aura wasn't after Silver and I highly doubt, that he ever will be."

With that, she left the alley and walked straight in the restaurant, in that she had located the uke she had been searching for.

Mephiles stayed in the shadow of the alley, staring after her in surprise – mostly the surprise, that he let her go this easily. That SO answered all of his questions for Chaos' sake!

He started to believe, that all humans were infuriating, but maybe this was just the case for the ones he dealt with all the time.

* * *

Back to the present:

"May I ask, for what I'm here? Shy wasn't...very helpful in this department.," the uke, who was apparently Lunar, asked. "We have a problem with your gravity field.," Kylie told him.

The golden eyes narrowed. "Well, that's too bad for him, but I won't get him out of there, until I hear an apology.," he growled, crossing his arms angrily. "I'm afraid, you will have to. Another person got stuck in it.," Kylie explained.

Lunar gasped and his hands flew in front of his mouth in shock. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, I always install them out of reach!," he scrambled to apologize.

"Lunar, I'm not mad, I only ask you to stop your field.," Kylie soothed.

It wondered Sonic a little, that several people, like Rio and now Lunar, seemed intimidated by Kylie and immediately tried to apologize, when they had the feeling, that she could became mad – just to agree to all of her suggestions as soon as she had spoken them out. Was she as a human this scary?

"Of course, right away.," the male nodded quickly, just as Sonic had expected it. "Good. Then come, let's go. Bye, John!," Kylie waved as they made their way towards a hallway. Sonic accompanied them, while Rouge stayed, where she had been the whole time. "Don't forget the crowbar!," John waved after them lazily, his sleeve a burnt black.

"A crowbar?," Sonic repeated, while they turned around a corner and went towards a big elevator ahead of them. Kylie chuckled. "To pry Tails away from the others.," she smirked.

"That bad?," Sonic asked, while they entered the spacious elevator cabin. Lunar thankfully kept a distance to Sonic unconsciously.

"He'll meet a lot of soulmates, who can actually understand his technology-'blah blah'. What do you think?," she asked back.

Sonic nodded in thought. Although Tails most of the time didn't show it, he could become pretty annoyed and frustrated with having to spell most things out to his friends, or trying to find an easier explanation for what his newest invention was good for, or how Eggman's newest future scrap metal worked in detail.

Usually, he did this without having to think about it, being used to simplify everything, but sometimes, he became aware again of how much more intelligent he was in comparison to everyone else around him. He could definitely need a friend, who was on his wavelength, at least from time to time.

Sonic raised a brow, when he saw Kylie press the number -6 on the panel and how its top above the buttons moved to the side to reveal a small screen and an as small keyboard. Kylie typed in a few numbers and letters, before the panel shut again and the elevator started to move.

"Er...Kylie?," Sonic asked, confused. Why did she do that? "We need to take special measures for this place, since our first Garage had blown up due to an accident. We keep its new location therefore underground and locked with a password. It is changed every day, so that no innocents can go into it – least of all children.," she explained.

"I don't know, if that's enough – most of them are acting like children at Christmas morning, after all.," Lunar mumbled, looking straight ahead at the doors.

"He forgot a date of yours again, didn't he?," Kylie asked dryly. "You bet he did – for the third time already! I don't know, why I still love this idiot.," he grumbled, the last bit more to himself.

"Yeah, love is a strange thing. Maybe you should take different measures to get his attention. He didn't seem to mind the gravity field too much."

"Oh, he would have – I planned to let him be stuck in there for a whole week. Too bad, that I need to dissolve it now.," Lunar sighed.

"You two should really talk with each other." "As if he would listen.," Lunar shook his head. "I might have an idea for that," Kylie grinned, just when the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

* * *

They stepped out and Sonic's jaw just dropped. They stood in a giant hall, looking bigger than an airplane hangar, that could hold a dozen airplanes in it. The ceiling was high and half-round. It and the walls as well as the floor seemed out of metal.

In the room were tables out of wood, standing here and there and forming an organized mess, with small and big devices on them, that seemed all to be in different stages of construction, and the rest of the tables' tops littered with different tools each.

At some tables were people sitting – to Sonic's surprise, not alone hedgehogs, but other mobians and even humans, too – and working on a device each, reading blueprints like Tails had them to the dozen, or arguing with others. He even saw Alex, quietly and alone tinkering at a table, too concentrated to notice them entering.

Sonic looked around to see a rather large crowd to his left, the people standing so close to each other,that they were blocking all sight of its middle.

Stepping a bit closer to the crowd, Sonic picked up a familiar voice, "-and if you calibrate it like...that!," there was a small pause, accompanied by a metallic sound, "You can upgrade its speed by 50%.," Sonic heard Tails explain proudly. A chorus of 'Oh!'s and 'Ah!'s was audible afterwards.

"It doesn't _need_ to be faster!," they heard Mali shout from somewhere in the crowd. She sounded exasperated, as if she had mostly given up on saying this repeatedly.

"Alright, guys, the show is over.," Kylie said loudly, clapping her hands and making her way through the crowd, dispersing it, while Sonic and Lunar stayed, where they were.

After most of the people had gone away, Sonic could see his brother, oil stains in his fur and his trusted Miles Electric in hand. He stood next to what looked like Mali's wheelchair, different wires poking out of its back, several small parts of it and also tools littered around it.

Mali sat a little behind him, stretched out on her side on a sunbed-like, cushioned chair, sipping some pink fluid through a straw from a glass in her hand with a scowl on her face.

Amy sat next to her feet, her elbows on her knees and her face held in her hands, looking bored and pretty much in her own world, having detached herself from consciousness out of pure boredom.

"Okay, whoever made a puzzle out of Mali's chair, will put it together again and her in it, now.," Kylie ordered with a smile.

"On it!," Tails and a hedgehog with white, also oil stained fur, who seemed about his age, cheered and went right to it. Two older hedgehogs stayed around, for sure waiting to lift Mali back in her chair.

Sonic noticed, that Tails and the white furred hedgehog were working perfectly synchronous and chattering animatedly in the process. He had made a new friend, huh?

In no time, Mali's chair was fixed and Sonic kept looking at the two younger mobians, so the young woman wouldn't have an audience, while being lifted in it.

"SONIC!" Tails and Amy had at the same time noticed him and quickly ran over to him, Tails dragging his new friend with him. Thankfully, they kept the distance still, out of a habit.

It worried him a little, that Amy had a strange gleam in her eyes, that he had last seen, before he had been outed as an uke. Choosing to ignore it, he turned to the white hedgehog, who looked shyly up at Sonic, reminding him of Tails, when he had been younger.

"Sonic, that's my new friend, Snow. Snow, that's Sonic, my adoptive brother.," Tails introduced proudly.

"Hi!," Sonic greeted friendly. Snow's name fitted him wonderfully, with his pure, white fur, the silver, shining tips on his bent down head quills, that looked like icicles, and his dark blue eyes.

He blushed hotly upon seeing Sonic, grabbed one of Tails' tails in what seemed to be an unconscious movement and started to fiddle with the tip, while he looked to the ground. "H-hi, I-I'm Snow. I-I'm a big f-fan...," he stuttered.

Lunar, who had waited next to Sonic, chuckled and walked over to him, raising his hand and gently tapping the younger on the top of his head, which caused him to let go of the tail and look up at him, seemingly confused.

The uke smiled down on him, before turning to Tails. "Sorry about that, he always starts to fiddle, when he's nervous – and he usually doesn't notice, what he fiddles with. Once, it was the hem of the dress of a random female passing by...that was a hard one to explain.," he apologized, blushing at the last part.

Tails chuckled, his tails swaying, as if trying to prove, that Snow hadn't inflicted any damage. "It's alright, they are used to it, I used to do this fiddling, too.," he replied.

"Well, my tail isn't long enough to do that!," Snow defended himself with a pout, which caused the other three males to laugh, Snow joining them. Amy was too busy with staring at Sonic to notice anything, that was spoken about.

Snow calmed down first, grabbed Lunar's wrist and pulled him closer. "Tails, that is my big brother, Lunar. Lunar, this is my new bestest friend, Tails.," he introduced them.

Tails blushed a little, while Lunar chuckled and bent down to their eye level. "Hello Tails, it's nice to meet you. And congrats – Snow has never before considered someone this fast as his best friend.," he smiled.

"Bestest!," Snow corrected immediately. "Of course, how could I forget that?," Lunar agreed and rolled his eyes, straightening.

"Lunar is so cool, he can create gravity fields! In those, he can play with gravity and make all things heavier or lighter, it's amazing!," Snow beamed at Tails.

"Snow, we talked about this. You – and your friends – won't use my abilities for games.," Lunar scolded. "Aaaawww, but-!," Snow started to protest.

"Did you ever test your restraints?," Tails asked quickly. The brothers looked at him. "Huh?" "I mean, did you ever test, how easily you can manipulate gravity? How heavy or light you can make things? And how long you can keep a gravity field of a certain size up? I could build some gadgets, with that I can measure the exact effort and accuracy you need.," he offered.

Sonic smirked. This way, Tails had convinced him once to let him do several tests concerning his speed. ...He still got him to test all of his gadgets for him this way.

Snow, who caught up to what he was trying to do, too, nodded vigorously at his brother, trying to convince him.

Lunar frowned at them, before closing his eyes and sighing. "FINE! But I'm busy until next week and need to check my agenda first. I'll let Snow know, I'm sure, that you have already exchanged your contact data.," he gave up.

Both young mobians gasped. "Oh, we almost forgot that!," they exclaimed and Snow scurried away, starting to search through the tables frantically and at a rapid pace.

Lunar shook his head. "Next to Alex, Snow!," he called and the white furred male quickly ran over to the human teen, grabbing a sticky note and a pen, before returning and scribbling something on the piece of paper, giving it Tails afterwards. "Here, my number and address.," he explained quickly.

Tails took the note and looked down on it, sweatdropping. "Er..." Lunar took the note from him and the pen from Snow and wrote something on the other side of the paper, before giving it back to the fox. "And that's our number and address in a readable writing.," he smirked. Snow crossed his arms and grumbled to himself.

"Feel free to call, whenever you like.," Lunar added, waved and turned, walking in the opposite direction. As Sonic could see now, in the top corner, that he was moving towards, were Knuckles and this other seme.

"What's Knuckles doing there?," Tails wondered loudly, apparently only now spotting him. "Looks, as if he's stuck in one of my brother's gravity fields. Crazy guy.," Snow commented.

Sonic wasn't surprised, that both of them didn't notice that. They were so much alike, that they obviously both tended to block out everything, when they worked, or tinkered, just like he knew it from Tails.

The other mobians made some space for Lunar and watched, how the male stepped forwards, until he was almost under the two semes. He stretched his hand out towards his field and it apparently sunk down to him, since the two semes did exactly that, without moving from their positions. A snap of his fingers, and the two fell and landed on their feet.

Knuckles didn't look too happy and without a word, he just marched past the uke, hellbent on ignoring and forgetting the embarrassing incident.

The seme, instead, closed his book, his face a neutral mask. "It didn't take you long.," he mentioned emotionlessly.

Lunar looked ready to blow up at him, but Kylie was quicker. "Will, could you do me a favor, please?," she asked, coming over to the two. "Hm? Sure, what is it?," he asked, looking at her with the same neutral expression.

"Would you do some grocery shopping for me? I'll be too busy for this, I'm afraid.," Kylie explained, giving him a large piece of paper, that looked, as if it had been written on on both of its sides in small writing and from that Sonic had no idea, where she had gotten it from so suddenly.

"Yeah, okay." The seme, apparently Will, took the paper without complaints. "Oh, and take Lunar with you, please, he knows, what brands I prefer.," Kylie added quickly.

"Alright.," Will shrugged and went off. Lunar followed him, whispering a 'Thank you' at Kylie, while passing her. Kylie bent down and murmured something quickly in his ear. Lunar grinned, nodded and ran after his boyfriend. Kylie smiled after them, before returning to Sonic and his friends.

Snow was gone again, searching for something else, it seemed, judging by his frantic racing between the tables.

Sonic had his attention on the human woman, as soon, as she was close to him. "How did this work?," he asked, meaning Will and Lunar. "Will is of the Dutiful type. They need tasks almost all the time, or they don't even _move_. Involving their mates in their duties is the only way for them to get them to interact with them."

"...Not a good relationship...," Sonic stated reluctantly. "As long as they are boyfriends, yes. However, as soon, as they are mates, he will see his partner's happiness as his priority-task and act like a completely normal guy towards his mate and his children. No other task can ever replace this one, or become more important."

"Then...why aren't they together like this already?" "Lunar's of the Careful type, who take up to sometimes two years to choose their partners after having first dated them. Will has yet to prove to him, that he is worth a lifelong relationship. Don't ask me, how exactly he can prove this – it's always different for each Careful type."

Sonic nodded in thought. "And what did you tell him, before he left?," he couldn't help, but ask. "That his family won't need to do grocery shopping for at least a month – I asked him to take all they will buy to his home, I don't need the stuff.," she grinned, Sonic mimicking her.

Knuckles cleared his throat to get their attention. "Can we go now?," he growled, obviously wanting to leave this place, before he got stuck somewhere else.

"Aaawww, do you have to?," Snow asked, coming to stand in front of Kylie, his hands behind his back.

Kylie smiled and went to sit on her ankles, to be closer to his eye level. "I'm afraid so, Snow, sorry. I need to work, you know?"

The young hedgehog bit his lip for a second, before he smiled bravely. "Okay. Here, this is for you!" He pulled his arms out from behind his back and presented her something, that looked like a mechanic blossom with a green painted, square shaped bottom and pink painted 'petals' out of several different segments, wrapping lightly around each other, imitating a real blossom.

"Wow.," Kylie whistled, impressed, and carefully pressed a button on the green part. Immediately, the petals opened with a tiny creak and semi-stiff movements, revealing a glass ball in their middle, about twice the size of a marble, that shone in all colors of the rainbow. "Oh, it's beautiful, thank you so much, Snow.," Kylie thanked him, gently petting his head, after closing the flower again, so nothing would break off accidentally.

The young boy giggled happily. "Next time, I'll make a much bigger one!" He stretched out his arms, indicating, that his next mechanic flower would be bigger and taller than him.

"And how will you get it out of here?," Kylie asked, amused. "Er..." Snow scratched his quills in thought, frowning. "No idea.," he finally admitted.

Kylie chuckled and started to scratch behind his ear, making him purr and lean into her touch. "You don't need to make a bigger one, this one here is just perfect. I'm sure, that you have a thousand other ideas, focus on those, okay?"

Snow grinned and saluted playfully. "Yes, mam!" "Good. I'll see you later, bye.," Kylie grinned back.

"Bye!," Snow waved happily, before running over to Alex, who pulled a stool beside him out from under the table in a seemingly practiced movement. Without hesitation, Snow plopped on it and began to chatter animatedly with him. Although Alex seemed rather quiet from what Sonic could see, the younger just continued to talk with him happily.

"Come on, let's go.," Kylie said silently, stood up and they went to the elevator, Amy trotting like hypnotized after them, staring at Sonic still. "May I look at this flower?," Tails asked on the way. "In a minute.," the woman smiled.

Once the elevator doors had closed, she handed him the object. "Here. Sorry to have you waiting, but Snow always gets jealous, when someone besides the intended has his presents in hands – even his bestest friend.," she added with a smirk, making Tails blush at the unofficial title.

"Why did he give you this thing anyway? Is today your birthday, or something like that?," Knuckles asked, while Tails examined the invention carefully.

"No, nothing like that. Snow loves it to gift mothers his inventions." "Mothers? So, Vanilla, too?," Sonic asked, confused as to why only mothers.

"And others, yes. Snow lost his mother three years ago due to an accident. He never saw it happening, her crippled form in hospital, or her body, before it got cremated, so he never had a chance to properly say goodbye and accept her death for himself. He has since then a strong attachment to female mothers – his mother had been also a female – and tries to gain their praise and loving warmth, that he lacks since his mother's death. Of course, we provide him with plenty of both here.," she ended with a smile.

"He must have worked for weeks on this.," Tails mused, carefully turning the flower to all sides, admiring the paintwork.

"How come, that Lunar isn't like Snow, then? He had lost his mother, too, hadn't he?," Sonic wondered.

"Lunar lost his mother shortly after he had been born. His father needed someone, who could raise the child, since he had no idea how, and he was lucky to find a female, who had lost her child a week after birth and could nurse and raise little Lunar like her own son. Seven years later, she became pregnant again and Lunar didn't fail to notice, how different his brother looked in comparison to himself. His father explained to him then, that they were just half-brothers. He loved his stepmother, just like he loves his brother, but when she died, his feelings didn't run THIS deep. His instincts never attached fully to her, so he didn't grieve too much."

"Does Snow know, that Lunar isn't his real brother?," Knuckles asked. "He came to that conclusion, when he had been three."

Sonic and Knuckles both stared at her. "He's as intelligent as Tails, so he didn't need much time to realize, that Lunar and their mother had nothing in common. But as you can see, this fact doesn't stop him from calling Lunar his brother, and not his half-brother. He is his big idol and he loves him very much.," Kylie grinned.

The elevator stopped, but, as Sonic saw, two floors under the one, where the foyer was. The door opened and revealed the turquoise furred cat from earlier behind it. She was having a black eye now and her nose was bleeding a bit. She looked surprised for a second, before she caught herself and entered. She looked at the panel, but didn't press a button, they were apparently going to her floor.

"Do I want to know, what happened?," Kylie asked with a raised brow. "Eh...probably not, no.," DJ grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "By the way, we should later talk about you playing with my scanner.," Kylie deadpanned. "Er..." DJ turned red and quickly looked away. She noticed Tails and started to giggle.

"Huh?," Tails asked, confused. "You look like a golden dalmatian!," DJ giggled, pointing at the oil stains in his fur.

The three male mobians looked at it. "Oh." They were so used to Tails' fur stained with all kinds of dirt and mechanic-related fluids, that they didn't realize, how it had to look for others, who weren't used to it.

"Want me to clean it for you?," DJ offered. "DJ...," Kylie growled warningly. The cat rolled her eyes. "_Relax_, I trained since last time. I promise, nothing will happen.," she reassured.

Kylie stared at her, her eyes narrowing, before sighing. "You better be extra careful.," she grumbled, giving her permission this way.

"You bet!," DJ grinned broadly and went closer to Tails, who shuffled back, holding Snow's invention like a shield in front of him. He didn't like, how the talk had went and he definitely didn't trust her.

In mere seconds, Knuckles and Amy, who was – for now – mentally with them again, were between DJ and the fox. "Hands off him!," the echidna snarled. "Who said, that I'm going to touch him?," the cat grinned, before her contours suddenly blurred – or that was, what Sonic was seeing.

Knuckles and Amy, however, looked around, confused, getting out of their fighting stances, as if they couldn't see the girl at all.

DJ moved forward and Sonic wasn't sure, if she slipped through a gap between the two, or through_ them_. In front of Tails, who apparently couldn't detect her either, she stopped and stretched out her hand, letting it hover over one of his stains. He watched, how Tails' fur stood straight, while the stains just vanished one by one, when the girl's hand moved over them.

When she was done, her contours became sharp and clear again and Tails jumped back in shock, as if she had warped in front of him, while Amy and Knuckles whipped around to her. "How?," was all Knuckles could say.

DJ smirked. "Who knows~?," she asked with a singsong-voice, when the elevator stopped and the door opened.

She turned around and went out of the elevator, her eyes brushing over Sonic and her lips forming a knowing smirk, while she passed him. Amy and Knuckles backed off from her, while she passed them, they were a little intimidated by her strange ability. The cat stopped outside of the cabin and turned around to the hero halfway. "I'll tell Mina, that you said 'Hi'. You didn't, but she'll be happy to hear it – and I love to make her happy. Bye!" Waving, she turned back to walk away.

"What a strange girl.," Knuckles growled. Sonic just wanted to ask Kylie, what DJ's powers were, that she apparently had, when he heard a voice thundering towards them, that was quite familiar: "YOU WILL ANSWER ME, **NOW**!"

* * *

Sonic sighed. "Meet you in the foyer.," he grumbled, before dashing off towards exactly this room, to find his boyfriend – with freshly washed fur and quills – leaning over Mali's desk and touching noses with said human. Sonic hadn't noticed, when she had left the Garage. John was gone from sight.

"Sorry, but I don't answer questions, that are formulated like this. Politeness shouldn't be something you need to ask for, wouldn't you agree?," Mali replied calmly.

Shadow looked ready to tear out her throat, when Sonic cleared his own. The hedgehog whipped around to him and swallowed dryly, when he recognized him, looking rather... scared. Not scared of him like one would be scared of a monster, but as scared as someone, who had no idea about what his mate's next step would be.

Letting out Instinct Sonic had confused both of Shadow's personalities and they needed time to get used and familiar with their counterparts, instead of the opposite ones. Until they had arranged themselves, Sonic – and Shadow – would surprise their partner in more ways than just a good one, and definitely more than once.

"Shadow, leave Mali alone. What is the problem anyway?," Sonic ordered and asked. "Nothing, I guess.," Shadow quickly gave up and jumped off the desk.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Shad, this isn't a battlefield, you don't need to worry about me all the time.," he effortlessly understood his boyfriend's motive. Instinct Sonic decided to let him add, "...unless you want me to bunk with Silver for a month – or maybe you'd prefer, if it was Happy?"

Conscious Sonic had no idea, why he had mentioned Happy, but Shadow's expression, that suddenly bordered to horror, let him take a wild guess: he apparently didn't like, that Happy had been this close to him earlier and the mere thought of him repeating _that_ had to be like a nightmare coming true for the seme.

Sonic couldn't know, that Instinct and Conscious Shadow had had enough time to analyze Silver sufficiently. Both knew, that he was trustworthy, while Happy was completely new and therefore a potential danger. The two halves of the agent's personality were clever enough not to mention it, though, still remembering Sonic's reaction to their slightest doubt concerning his chances against Mephiles.

"I-I'll keep that in mind.," Shadow quickly tried to appease him. "Good.," Sonic nodded, just when Kylie and the others came to them. Kylie carried Snow's invention again, having it probably pried out of his brother's hands.

"I'll be in my office now, please don't let any calls through – unless they are important. Also, I'm expecting some test results, mostly from Thilo. Please bring them to me as soon as possible.," Kylie instructed Mali. "Of course, Dr. Ellen.," the woman smiled.

"Thank you. And here." She pulled out the sticky note from earlier and gave it Mali. "Please let Nicole do some calculations for this, okay?"

"Sure." Mali looked at the note, but didn't ask any questions, so the information on it was sufficient enough – or Mali could fill in the gaps on her own.

"Alright, let's go." Kylie waved them to follow her. The mobians nodded and followed the human, even Rouge, who had waited for Shadow in the foyer the whole time.

* * *

The walk towards the office was a quiet one, nobody spoke, until they reached the room. Only now, Tails noticed a few chairs on the other side of the door, apparently, to make waiting outside more comfortable, and on one of them the yellow hedgehog Zen, who was curled up, reading a book. He didn't even notice, that they were arriving, too engrossed in the pages.

Ignoring Zen, Kylie opened the door. "Mist? Are you there?," she called inside, but there was no ghost appearing, or books flying out of the shelf, so he was probably gone. Just to be safe, Kylie entered first, asking Sonic, who walked in last, to close the door.

After a last look at Zen, who was thankfully not accompanied by his horrifying twin this time, Sonic did so and came to sit on a chair in front of Kylie's desk, that had been moved in a way, that it was next to, yet away from Shadow's, just in the right distance.

Instinct Sonic wasn't impressed and refused to reward Shadow with a smile and a 'Thank you', but Conscious Sonic had no problem with that, liking, how Conscious Shadow blushed at his words and mimic. It was adorable. He was sure, that Instinct Shadow was pleased as well.

"Er...Kylie, are there already some results from your examinations?," Tails, who sat in the second row between Sonic and Shadow, asked carefully. "There are, but all negative, which is good, because it means, that there is no damage done to his head or insides. The test results we await now will hopefully help me understand his symptoms."

"_Hopefully_?! And if not!?," Shadow snarled. "How about we cross this bridge, when it comes to it?," Kylie replied, surprisingly enough shutting Shadow up. "While we wait," the woman continued, "I would love to explain something important to you, that is called 'Hierarchy of Hedgehogs'."

"Really!?," Tails asked excitedly and when Sonic turned to him, he saw, that his eyes were sparkling, as if his birthday and Christmas would be celebrated today. Noticing the odd looks he received from everyone, he turned beet red. "S-Sorry, I just found this term several times, when I researched, before and after the Island, but I never found a real explanation... for quite a few things, I'm afraid...," he admitted sheepishly.

"No surprise there, most of the books concerning ukes outside the Shelter are fairy tales at best, if even. How about a deal? I'll tell you, what I have to say – and then you can ask me all questions bothering you. Er... at least, until 8 pm. I'm always bringing Van to bed to this time and end my day with paperwork.," she quickly added, since she had no idea, how many questions would come.

Tails nodded quickly. "Of course, no problem.," he reassured. That would give him several hours for getting answers.

"Good." Kylie pulled out some kind of chart from behind her desk. On it was a pyramid-like structure, that was built out of four lines of little, colorful squares. The bottom line showed four different shades of brown, the one above it the colors red, blue and yellow, the next two squares were of a silver and a golden color and the top being black with a white question mark in it.

"This here is the Hierarchy of the ukes and females in hedgehog colonies. Until today, your instincts keep this hierarchy unconsciously.", she started.

"And what about the semes?," Shadow asked with a raised brow. "They have a so called 'Dynamic Hierarchy'. That means, that they orientate themselves after their mates. If a seme has a partner, who is a Delta, he is also considered one, if they break up and he dates a Gamma, he is automatically 'upgraded'. They do have a certain system, based on their appearance, until they are mated. This system is divided in classes, just like the hierarchy of ukes and females, but it isn't formed like a pyramid. If I had a picture like this one here for semes, then it would consist out of one square at the bottom and a long line of twelve more above it, all equal."

"Why would there be only one at the the bottom?," Tails wondered. "This are the semes, who have no special powers since birth. It is quite known, that Chaos Energy, the source of all the different abilities you mobians – and in rarer cases we humans – have, has an influence on the appearance. Most people with special abilities have colorful fur, scales or feathers, those without them seem rather...ordinary, which has a reason, too – they can hide easier, since they have usually no other way of defending themselves. In the case of hedgehogs, they have usually brown or gray fur, when they belong to those, no matter if uke, female, or seme."

"What about those other classes? I mean, why are they divided in those, when the semes are equally anyway?," Rouge asked with a raised brow.

"Each seme-class is connected with certain values. Shadow, for example, belongs to the – and I'm not making that up – the 'Shadow Class'. Those have all mostly black fur and are known as silent hunters and efficient warriors. They are seen as great potential fathers and mates and in older days, during the times of the colonies, they were pretty much wanted by every uke or female."

"Mephiles belongs also to the Shadow Class?," Shadow asked. "Indeed." "What about Fleetway?," he asked about the only other seme he cared to know about. "He belongs to the Lightning Class. They have light yellow fur, are too quick in their judgment and can easily become very dangerous for others..."

"You've got to be kidding me! Are you implying, that _Fleetway_ might be _stronger_ than _me_!?," Shadow shouted angrily, jumping up and slamming his hands on her desk in rage. He – and less dangerous than Fleetway!? He saw that as a personal insult!

Kylie barely twitched at his outburst. "The only reason, why semes like Fleetway are considered as more dangerous, is, because those are unpredictable. If someone would harm Sonic or Silver, it is pretty much clear, that you and Mephiles will kill the attacker, if not stopped. If the mate of a seme of the 'Lightning Class' gets purposefully hurt, it is impossible to foresee, how he will react. It ranges from the torture of the attacker to the genocide of the attacker's complete race."

The mobians stared at her with dropped jaws. "Don't worry, the Lightning Class is the smallest of all, there are roughly 50 of them all over the world and most mobians know, that they shouldn't mess with them – unless they have a good reason, of course.," she added, looking at Shadow, who reluctantly sat down again, not turning to Sonic, since he knew, that he would see disapproval for his actions in his eyes, if he did.

Kylie placed the chart on her desk and held it upright with her hand, so that everyone could see it.

"This here is the general pattern of the Hierarchy. Unlike the semes, ukes can't change their rank, they are born into it. Most of the time, though, it's not that bad, almost all colonies treated all parts of the Hierarchy equally and nowadays, it doesn't have that much influence. The bottom of this Hierarchy is formed by the Deltas, also called the Earth Class. As I said, these hedgehogs have either brown, or gray fur and no special powers. The semes, who have no powers either, are of the Autumn Class. These classes make out about 50% of the entire hedgehog race." She pointed to the bottom row while saying this.

"Next we have the Gammas, also called the Rainbow Class, who make about 30% of the hedgehog race. They have fur with bright colors and almost all special powers. They are mainly responsible for the protection of the young, together with the semes."

"Sonic and I are both Gammas, right!?," Amy asked excitedly, not even noticing, that she had interrupted the woman. Kylie just smiled, but it was enough for Amy, she grinned triumphantly at Sonic, who rather ignored her. She seemed to think, that that fact alone had to mean something.

"Next we have the Betas, the Noble Class. They have always fur of a pure silver, golden or white color and it's characteristic for them, that they have only in rare cases a second color mixed in their fur. They are stronger than the Gammas and protect the colony like the semes do. The Shadow Class often pairs up with them, by the way.," Kylie continued.

"So Silver is a Beta.," Sonic thought. It gave him a slight pinch, that Silver would be stronger than him one day, but not much.

"Last, we have the Alpha. Just one strong uke or female, who has authority over all other hedgehogs of the colony and protects every single one of them."

Kylie paused for a second. "The reason, why I told you this, is simple: Sonic, you are an Alpha.," she announced with a clear voice and looked said hedgehog dead in the eye.

* * *

Sonic's mouth dropped open and his head was pounding angrily, while he desperately tried to process that.

"I'm...what?," he managed to ask after several minutes of silence. "You are an Alpha.," Kylie repeated patiently. "B-but, I thought, that I was a Gamma!" Helplessly, Sonic gestured towards Amy behind him. "Oh, Alphas always look like a Beta, Gamma, or Delta, that's, why this square doesn't have its own color.," Kylie explained easily, not even having to think about it.

"B-but what makes you think, that I of all people am an Alpha?," Sonic asked, feeling, that he started to sweat.

"Well, for one, hedgehogs are prey mobians. If there's a danger, like Eggman attacking, for example, their first impulse is it to flee. Only Alphas jump immediately in the danger – with a big grin on their faces.," she chuckled.

"Well, maybe my instincts just don't work this way...," Sonic tried to explain himself out of Kylie's assumption.

Kylie sighed. She should have known, that Sonic wouldn't be this accepting. "Tails, Amy, would you please block your ears for a sec?"

"Why?," both asked simultaneously. "I need to explain something to Sonic, that you can't handle, yet. I'll give you a sign, when it is alright to listen again." She raised her thumb to show them the mentioned sign.

Both mobians scowled, but obeyed, keeping their eyes glued on her, either to try and read her lips, or to not miss the sign.

"Sonic, I will need to reveal a few things happening on the Island. Is it okay, that Knuckles and Rouge will listen?," Kylie asked.

Sonic blinked at first, surprised, but then, he nodded. He trusted Knuckles completely and as secretive, as Rouge was, she wouldn't talk about what she would hear with another person.

"Alright. The one, who found out about you being an Alpha, had been Perringten." Sonic and Shadow went stiff upon hearing that name. "Perringten had already heard of the Hierarchy long, before he had begun with the Island-project. He had collected a lot of data about it and had been able to categorize you accordingly. He had come to the conclusion, that you are an Alpha mostly, because of your behavior in emergency-situations, but there had been more. He found out, that your body is producing a pheromone, that only Alphas produce and give out. It tells every seme smelling it, that you already have a mate and to stay away. This pheromone is absolutely unique, only Alphas produce it. To top it off, Perringten found a large reservoir of Chaos Energy in you, that no other hedgehog of any rank has."

"A reservoir?," Sonic wondered. "Every mobian has more Chaos Energy in him or her, than what they are actively using. They usually set it free in emergencies only, which – for some people – never happens. If you would compare the amount of energy with that of water, then most mobians have a carafe full of extra-Chaos Energy at their disposal. Gammas have a 10-liter bucket, filled to the brim, Betas and most semes a filled bathtub, also filled to the brim and Alphas like you have a lake after a rain period – usually overflowing. When Perringten's men tried to measure your energy once, their instruments pretty much exploded in their faces." "Serves them right.," Shadow growled.

"Do you understand now, why you are categorized as an Alpha?," Kylie asked, ignoring Shadow.

Sonic nodded, frowning. He understood now, too why the scared Happy – and, if he thought further back, many others in the past – had trusted him so easily. He had apparently something, that identified him as a trustworthy Alpha. "So, do you want me to -what? build a colony, or something like that?," he asked, his whole body tense.

Kylie chuckled, while giving Tails and Amy the sign to listen in again. "Sonic, you are already sitting in a part of your colony.," she smiled.

"I do?" Sonic actually tempted to look around, as if he would then see other people there. "But – besides Amy and Shads – they aren't hedgehogs!," he protested at the same time, as Knuckles growled, "I won't listen to him, ever!".

"Nobody said they have to be hedgehogs – or that you have to.," Kylie reacted to both of their protests with one sentence. "While many mobians preferred to stay among their own kind, hedgehogs gladly accepted other races in their middle, even humans at times. And Alphas have each a different way to 'rule' over their colonies. Some are very strict and demand respect, seeing them as their people, pretty much their servants, others see their colonies as one big family. I'm very sure, that Sonic belongs to those. He sees you all as family and respects you all equally, while earning himself your respect individually." Knuckles just stared at her, his jaw slack.

"What kind of Alpha are you, then?," Sonic asked. This surprised Kylie actually, but she recovered quickly. "You're right, I am an Alpha, too, for this colony named the Uke Shelter. I am mostly like you behavior-wise, but since I am a human, it takes me more time to earn the trust of my colony. For you, it's something natural, that you don't even need to think about, but for me, it's a daily struggle – that I love nonetheless.," she ended with a grin. After all, the struggle was worth it.

"How come, that Alphas look like ukes of another rank?," Rouge asked, interested. "It's for safety reasons. I read once the real story of an assassin called Jack the Wolf, who lived, when there had been still colonies. He had been assigned to kill the Alpha of a hedgehog colony."

"Why?," Tails wondered. "It wasn't written there, but to this time, territory wars were quite common. Whoever hired him, probably wanted to drive the hedgehogs away to live on their land and without their Alpha, it would have worked. Jack did his job well, he spied on the Alpha for weeks and found out quickly, that he was pregnant and therefore very moody. He waited for him to kick out his seme for the night, before he made his way stealthily in the Alpha's bedroom, to kill him in his sleep. When he entered the bedroom, however, he almost got a heart attack upon seeing not one, but ten hedgehogs sleeping there on the spacious bed. All having the same fur color, the same quill style and all pregnant. They slept so close to each other, that their scents mingled with each other. Jack knew, that he would need to guess, but if he killed one, he would wake the other nine and they wouldn't hesitate to kill him in return."

"What did he do?," Tails asked curiously. "Since he lived to tell the tale, he did the only thing reasonable – he left the way he had come."

"Why didn't he see these hedgehogs enter?" "He couldn't. Most prey mobians built several exits in their houses or huts – obvious and secret ones. Whenever night fell and the Alpha didn't want his seme around, he let in hedgehogs, that looked like him, through a secret tunnel, to hide in the mass."

"And if the Alpha would have had an unique fur color, that barely someone else had? Then this trick wouldn't have worked, would it?," Rouge wondered.

"This never happened. In fact, there were miraculously born many children after the new Alpha, who had the same fur color and shade. Some scientists presume, that the life in the colony is responsible for that. It had an impact on the DNA and behavior of the hedgehogs and caused them to have certain color patterns of their fur and imitate his life choices. For example, they felt the urge to become pregnant, when their Alpha looked for a mate. I even read a story, in that several ukes looking like their Alpha even poisoned themselves, when said Alpha had been poisoned as well. Also, there are reports, that in one colony, all ukes were born with purple fur, no matter, what their parents had looked like, because their Alpha had had purple fur, too. Apparently this had been a measure to protect the Alpha."

"But we don't have colonies anymore! I mean, are there still Alphas?," Tails asked confused.

"Yeah, there are. Just like Sonic, they create their own unusual colonies and have therefore often jobs, in that they are the boss of several people, like CEO, director, etc. Since this aren't real colonies, this influence I spoke of before won't be in effect. This also goes for you. So don't worry about getting blue furred offspring or becoming speed-fanatics.," she joked. "You better hope so.," Knuckles grumbled under his breath.

"Does Sonic being an Alpha change anything?," Tails asked curiously. "Not much, but he will definitely come more often here. The Shelter is, as already mentioned, like a colony and I'm its Alpha. Since I'm human and lack the necessary instincts, Sonic will feel the need to check up on this place regularly, probably for as long as it exists. Also, there will always be semes trying to hit on him."

"Even though he has a mate?," Shadow asked with a silent growl. "_Especially_ because he has a mate.," Kylie corrected. "An Alpha in a relationship shows them, that he – or she – is generally ready for a mate. Many try to prove to the Alpha, that they might be a better choice than his or her actual mate."

"You mean, all those guys trying to hit on me...?," Sonic trailed off with wide eyes. He had thought, that it had been connected with the Island, but this was something else – and definitely not something, that would cancel itself out, then.

"Let me guess, you let Shadow chase them away? Next time, do it yourself. Let Instinct Sonic do the talking and acting, it'll chase them off for real – or at least lets them change tactics."

"Change tactics?," Sonic asked. "Their first tries had been for sure quite plump, because of your reputation as hero, that comes naturally with some prejudices. When you cast them off, they will think of another strategy."

"So they will try to attack Sonic.," Shadow concluded, hissing. "Shadow this isn't Paradise. Most of the semes trying to flirt with Sonic won't be high – and the exceptions, who will be, won't attack him. As a mature Alpha, Sonic's scent, mixed with the previously mentioned pheromones, will tell them, that they shouldn't mess with him and keep their hands to themselves. Instead, they will try to convince him, that they are better suited to be the Alpha's mate by showing, that they are strong, smart and a thousand other things. Don't worry, it will be mostly annoying, nothing more. Most semes get the message after the second or third turn down."

"Is there no way around it?," Sonic asked, with a silent beg in his voice. He REALLY didn't want to know, how many semes were interested in him! Especially, since not alone hedgehogs had shown interest...

"There are four ways I know. The first is pregnancy – no male, who you don't know, would approach you, until you have given birth. Ukes can get very dangerous, when they protect their young. The second way is wearing something, that has Shadow's scent strongly on it, like a scarf, a pullover, something like that. It will tell every seme approaching you, that you are taken – and don't intend on changing this fact. It won't stop all of the semes, but most of them. The third way is going out and doing something with another seme, who is your friend, in public. It'll give other interested semes the impression, that you already have a new boyfriend and this will let the less confident ones back off. The fourth way is a herb, that wards off semes. They can't smell it without feeling sick. The only problem with it is, that it will ward off EVERY seme, also the ones, that you'll want close to yourself. Also, you will need to take a long shower, before you can go close to Shadow – or another seme – again."

"Is that the same herb, that is in the bathroom doors?," Tails asked curiously. "You heard of that? Yes, indeed it is."

Sonic remembered the discomfort it had caused Shadow and Knuckles before. "I'll consider it, if I can't keep them at bay otherwise.," he decided.

"Alright th-" A ringing interrupted Kylie and she pulled out her mobile, looking at the screen, before answering. She didn't speak, just listened for a few seconds, before hanging up and standing up.

"Sorry, I need to attend a little issue for a few minutes. I'll be back shortly, feel yourself at home, okay? And if you need something, Mali's number is under her name in the phone.," she explained, pointing at said device on the desk, almost hidden behind a mountain of files.

"Can I go through some of the books?," Tails asked quickly, before she could leave. "Sure, just please put them back where you got them from – they are in a specific order.," Kylie explained. "Of course.," the male nodded and the woman left, closing the door behind her.

Shadow looked over at Sonic to see him deep in thought. "How are you holding up?," he asked lowly.

A blue ear twitched and turned to him. "I'm not sure, to be honest. This Alpha-thing is big news. I don't think, that I like it.," Sonic replied silently, looking at Kylie's desk without seeing it.

"All the future flirts?," Shadow wondered. Sonic scoffed. "The responsibility. I can handle the flirts, but being an Alpha is like putting mountains on my shoulders."

"You think?," Shadow asked. Sonic shrugged. "I'm not sure, what being an Alpha really means. If I can live up to the title. Being a hero is hard enough, to lead so many people... Not sure, if I could do that."

"I'm sure, that you can. You are always there for your friends without having to think about it. I'm certain, that this new bit of information from Kylie won't change you in the slightest, you're too strong.," Shadow stated, as if it was a law of nature. Sonic whipped around and stared at him, surprised. Not a single shred of uncertainty or doubt was in his ruby eyes.

After the first shock, he grinned. "You're sometimes too sweet, Shads." He loved the blush his words caused. He would love to kiss him right now, but Instinct Sonic protested harshly, making his headache worse.

The mobians jumped, when the door got thrown open suddenly and shouts of 'Mama!' echoed through the room.

Sonic turned around to see a young human girl, a young hedgehog, a young mouse and a familiar rabbit and silver colored hedgehog standing there, looking surprised, that Kylie wasn't in the room.

The human girl was without a doubt Kylie's daughter, Vanessa. She had the face and black hair of her mother, that was tied into two pigtails with dark green ribbons on both sides of her head. She had icy blue eyes, most likely her father's, and wore a light green summer dress and matching sandals.

The hedgehog was a girl, with light pink fur, the color closer to white, than to pink, actually, and light olive green eyes. She wore a white dress with short sleeves and red sandals. Her bent down quills were bound in two pigtails, looking similar to Vanessa's. Golden rings decorated her thin wrists, they were almost too big for her and seemed ready to slip off her every minute now. For some reason, Sonic had the feeling, that he had seen the girl somewhere already...

The mouse was also female and Sonic recognized her, she was one of the two girls running after Mighty and Shy on that picture in the newspaper. She wore a clean orange dress with a slightly darker ribbon, tied around her waist and ending in a bow at her right side. She also had a matching bow close to the tip of her tail, but neither shoes, nor gloves. Around her wrists were also ribbons with bows of a silver color.

Cream had Cheese in her arm and was accompanied by a dog with gray fur and pointy ears, who reached her waist easily.

Sonic hoped, that it was a dog for real, because it looked rather...wolfish, especially with the yellow eyes, that seemed fixated on him. Silver just poked in his head, looking surprised... and for some reason worried.

"I thought, your mama was here?," the mouse finally broke the silence, that had reigned for a few minutes.

"Usually, she is.," Vanessa replied with a pout. "Huh?," she asked and looked down, when she felt the hedgehog girl cling to the back of her dress. Although there seemed to be only about two years of age between the two girls, the mobian was just about half of the human's size. She used the taller girl as a hiding spot, it seemed, since she was trembling and had her eyes screwed shut in fear.

Just now, Vanessa seemed to notice the room's occupants. She stared for a good minute at Sonic, her jaw dropped, before returning to her scared friend, when she whimpered a little.

"Hope, they are just mobians, normal people. Mama wouldn't let them in, if they were bad, you KNOW that.," she tried to reassure the younger, but Hope didn't seem to listen, she just shook her head, hiding more.

Sonic's eyes widened, when he saw, that something white soundlessly appeared next to the hedgehog girl. It was a mature hedgehog with white fur, who was halfway transparent. This was apparently Mist, the friendly ghost 'living' in Kylie's office. He didn't seem scary at all, but it didn't seem, as if he was aiming for that effect, either.

Smiling, he bent down and gently moved his hand over Hope's head. Although he didn't touch her – which was probably not even possible, if he tried – Hope looked up, as if she had felt it. Her whole face lit up.

"Oh, Mist, you're back!," she cheered happily, turning fully around to him, letting go of Vanessa. The ghost smiled, not saying anything. Sonic wasn't even sure, if Mist could actually speak. Hope and the others obviously didn't expect him to, they happily greeted him, accepting his smile as his only response without a problem.

"Look, what I drew!," Hope said happily, pulling a piece of paper out of her backpack and showing it to the ghost. "See, I drew you, too, because you're part of my family!," she explained, pointing on something in the drawing Sonic couldn't see.

Mist looked sadder at hearing that, but he quickly covered his apparently dampened mood up and just showed her a happy smile, when the girl looked up again. "Everyone said, that I can draw really good! Do you think, that they are right?," Hope asked excitedly. Mist grinned at her and nodded, petting her head like he had before. It made the girl beam happily.

"Waah, Silver!," Vanessa suddenly shrieked, making Sonic jump and whip around to see her being held in midair by Silver's psychokinesis, that formed a bubble around her. She was closer to him now, he had been too caught up in Mist's and Hope's talk to notice her approaching.

"Silver, you're MEAN!," the girl screamed with such a high pitched voice, that all mobians winced.

"Sorry, but I only mean well.," Silver tried to soothe her, bringing her closer to himself with his powers.

"Why!? I finally meet Sonic the Hedgehog! You know, how much I dreamed of this day!," the girl complained, her arms crossed. Apparently, Silver didn't hold her body, but just the air around her, since she could still move.

"I know, Van, I know, but the problem is, that...er..." Silver frowned a little, seemingly trying desperately to think of a good reason, since the truth was apparently not an option. Suddenly, his face lit up, he had obviously an idea. "Because Sonic ate raspberries recently!," he exclaimed victoriously.

Sonic blinked. What kind of lie was this? He had already figured, that Silver was preventing Vanessa from touching him, but this seemed to be the most ridiculous way to achieve this.

Vanessa looked at the Beta, before throwing her head back, looking at the ceiling. "That's so totally unfair!," she grumbled.

Gently, Silver let her down on her feet. "Maybe you can't touch him, but you can still talk. Just...er...keep a distance. You know, just to be safe.," he tried to cheer her up.

"Yeah, yeah.," the girl sighed and went to Sonic, unintentionally keeping the distance the hero was comfortable with.

"Hi, I'm Vanessa Ellen.," she introduced herself with a voice so sad, as if her beloved pet had just died.

"Why so glum?," Sonic asked gently. "I have always wanted to hug you, just once, but I can forget that now.," she sighed. "Because I ate raspberries?," Sonic wondered, playing along with Silver's lie.

"Yeah. I'm very allergic to raspberries. One drop of their juice on your fur with me touching it or a whiff of it in your breath with me breathing it in, and my face will swell like a balloon and I won't be able to breathe, unless I get an injection with...some stuff.," she ended, frowning, obviously not remembering the exact name of her medicament against allergies.

"That's a severe reaction.," Tails commented from where he stood in front of the bookshelf, an open book in his hands.

"I know, right?," Vanessa replied sadly. "Mama and Alex and Hope and nobody interacting with me can't ever eat raspberries, unless I'm not present for the next 24 hours. I hate being a burden to them.," she added, sounding pretty depressed, which just didn't suit a girl of her age.

"I don't think, that they see you as a burden. They love you all very much.," Sonic tried to calm her down.

Vanessa took a deep breath and forced a brave smile. "I know, thank you. Oh, did you meet my sister, yet?," she asked at once, with a big grin.

Before Sonic could process, that Kylie had apparently two daughters, Vanessa had turned around and pulled the startled Hope over to them. "Come on, introduce yourself!," she encouraged, before the girl had realized, what had happened. Blinking at the human girl, Hope turned around to Sonic, blushing insecurely. "H-Hi. I-I'm Hope Ellen. Nice to meet you, I guess.," she mumbled.

While Vanessa berated her, that the 'I guess' at the end of her sentence was inappropriate, the mobians around Sonic tried to process that fact.

Kylie had adopted a mobian hedgehog? This was more than just unusual, it was never heard of! Humans and mobians were too different for a human to try and raise a mobian – or the other way round. How had Kylie thought this would work? There would be things like grooming or quill care, that she couldn't teach a hedgehog, because she didn't have fur, or quills. Or mobian instincts – wasn't she aware of the fact, that humans didn't have them? How was she supposed to explain them to her?

"Who are your real parents?," Shadow's voice cut through the talk of the girls. Both turned to him.

Hope blinked up at the hedgehog, who was towering over her, piercing her with glowing eyes. "Mama is my parent.," she answered confused, her head tilted to the side. "No, she isn't. I'm talking about your_ real_ parents.," Shadow growled.

"Like you're one to talk.," an icy voice said from the doorway and when the friends turned around, they saw Alex leaning in the door frame. "As far as I'm concerned, YOU don't have something, that you could call 'parents', correct?" His voice was as cold as his glare. "How would you know that?," Shadow asked angrily. Alex smirked. "I have my ways."

"Lexy!," Hope cried and ran to him. Alex immediately bent down and picked her up, when she jumped into his chest. "Mama is my mama, right?," the girl sobbed, looking up at him with teary eyes.

The teen's glare softened. "But of course she is and you're our sister." He hugged her gently, the young girl pretty much swallowed by his form. "Remember, what mom told you once? We are a family, no matter, who says the opposite. Our blood is red," He showed her the clotted cut on his cheek, "our hearts beat synchronously," Hope placed her ear against his chest, while having one of her hands over her own heart, listening and feeling with closed eyes for a few seconds, before listening further to his words, "and we dream the same dreams." The girl giggled, apparently remembering some funny memory at hearing that. "That's enough, don't you think?," Alex ended, smiling. Hope looked up to him again and nodded, sniffing a little still.

Alex smiled down on her and petted her quills gently. "How about some ice cream? I'll pay!," he grinned. Hope wiped away her tears. "Ch-Chocolate ice cream?," she sniffed. "Of course. Everything for our little princess."

Hope giggled again. Giving her a small peck on the forehead, Alex let her down. "Do you two want to join us?," he asked Cream and Silver, who had anxiously followed the conversation.

"Um...are you sure?," the bunny asked. "Sure, I have enough money – unless one of you decides to try out every sort of ice cream there is. Then... I'll have a problem.," he admitted sheepishly.

The two mobians laughed. "Okay, thank you!," Silver grinned happily. "How about you two go and inform Cream's mother? I'm sure, that you're faster, when you use Silver's psychokinesis – and don't forget to inform Mephiles.," he suggested and added.

"Okay, come on!," Silver cheered and let Cream, Hope and himself hover, the girls giggling happily.

The wolf...dog, whatever... was also hovering, but then it whined and Silver let him go again, placing him carefully on his paws. "Sorry, Curi.," he apologized.

The wolfish dog just barked at him in what seemed to be acceptance and scratched his ear. "Go ahead, we'll meet you in the foyer!," Alex waved and the trio took off, waving, too.

Once they were gone, Alex whipped around to Shadow, his eyes ablaze with fury. "Van, go to the foyer.," he ordered coldly.

Looking to the girl, Sonic noticed, that she was also staring at Shadow, tears in her slightly red eyes, that looked like burning ice now. She didn't move, ignoring her brother.

"Emma?," Alex tried further, but the mouse girl, that everyone had temporarily forgotten, stared without listening at Knuckles, as if he was abstract art. The echidna, who had only now become aware of her staring, waved his hand in front of her face, but she didn't even blink.

"Fantastic.," the male teen grumbled, before marching past the mouse and his sister towards Shadow, hovering over him like he had before with Hope. "Listen here, if you so much as _look_ at Hope one more time, you will wish, that you have never been mixed together in your space-laboratory, did I make myself clear?," he growled lowly, his voice too low for Vanessa to hear it.

Shadow's eyes widened. "How do you know that?," he asked with a hiss. Alex smirked coldly. "Oh, I have my resources – and they know a LOT more. You wouldn't like it, if I would publish them, would you? Could happen, that somebody actually finds a weakness of the 'Ultimate Lifeform'."

"I have no weakness!," Shadow hissed. "Everything has a weakness and I GLADLY spend the rest of my life finding yours. I happen to know a certain seme of the Shadow Class, who would for sure assist me..."

"You don't threaten me, human!," Shadow snarled, when a sharp bark let everyone jump and whip around to the dog, who was for some reason standing in the middle of the room now and was barking at the surprised Sonic, who had stood up, when the situation had become pretty tense, to deescalate it somehow. Its yellow eyes were gleaming dangerously and it looked ready to attack every second now.

"Curi, enough, don't kill the hero.," a bored voice said and they looked to the door to see Scythe there. The animal immediately backed off, running to her.

"See, this is, why I don't want to leave my office for long. There ALWAYS happens something, when I'm away.," Kylie told her, appearing next to the tall hedgette with her arms crossed.

"At least there aren't some people doing 'you know what' on your desk again.," Scythe shrugged, kneeling on the ground to pet Curi.

"I would actually prefer that.," Kylie sighed and made her way in the room. She petted Emma's head while passing her, which let the mouse blink and look around, as if she had no idea, where she was.

Reaching her son, who avoided her glare, Kylie looked at Shadow. "Shadow, maybe you should go and get some fresh air.," she suggested. As heated, as the situation had become, distance was probably the best way to cool all parties down.

Shadow's quills bristled. "You dare to-" "Mephiles.," Kylie interrupted him and said seme appeared behind her. "Yes?" "Keep Shadow with you for a bit, will you – and please don't kill him, okay?," Kylie quickly added.

"Very well." Black tentacles grabbed the agent's neck and arms and they vanished, before he could even give a noise of protest.

"Good. Now, Alex, I get, why you did that, but I don't want to hear you say words like these ever again."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I...er...got a little distracted, I guess.," Alex grimaced. "Understandable, but don't let it happen again.," Kylie told him.

"Yeah." The teen nodded. "Alright. As far as I remember, you have invited a few kids to ice cream. Don't let them wait – or they get angry.," Kylie grinned. Alex smirked. "Sure. Are you coming, Van?," he asked his sister, but she didn't answer.

Her head hung low, a shadow was over her face and she was trembling hard. Her teeth were gnawing her bottom lip and tears ran down her cheeks. "M-Mama.," she whispered.

"Yes?," Kylie asked, kneeling down next to her with a worried expression. "A-are we bad people?," Van asked, meekly.

"No, why do you ask?," her mother replied, surprised. "Th-then wh-why does e-everyone hate us?," she asked, crying a little harder. "Everyone at school says, that we're not normal and the people in the city say, that we're monsters and even...even papa s-said, that H-Hope-"

"Who cares about what this bastard says!?," Alex snarled harshly, making her flinch and cry harder.

"Alex, don't talk like this with your sister.," Kylie scolded, before taking Vanessa in her arms, gently running her hand over her back soothingly. "You're right, that many people are currently against us – and I'm sorry, that I couldn't protect you from that as much as I had wanted. Remember how I told you, that what we are doing is unique? You see, humans fear, what they don't understand and many can't understand, that we just want to love Hope, no matter, who she is. And now, I want you to listen, okay?"

Vanessa sniffed and nodded, snuggling closer to her. "There will always be people against you. Against your style, against your opinion, against your ideas or choices. It won't be always this many people, don't worry and I want you to remember always, that you will get over those hardships, okay? Just remember, that one day, the hardships will be over and you will be accepted. And your family and true friends will always be there for you." The young girl nodded hesitantly, the topic apparently a little overwhelming for her.

"Do you love Hope?," Kylie asked with a smile, gently loosening her hold to look down on her daughter. "Of course, I love her more, than Alex! Sisters are far better, than brothers!," Vanessa immediately replied, causing her mother to chuckle. "Wow, thanks, Van, I feel _so_ loved right now.," Alex sighed sarcastically.

Ignoring him, Kylie gently tapped her daughter's chest. "Keep this love you feel right now exactly in there and whenever someone criticizes you for it, just remember, that Hope will always be home to greet you, even after the most horrible day."

Vanessa nodded, seemingly in thought. "Will... the people understand...one day?," she asked hesitantly. "Some will, others won't. You can't force your opinion on others, you can only show them yours and let them decide, if they want to follow it, or not." Vanessa frowned, trying to understand this.

Kylie smiled and gently stroke her head. "Don't worry, you don't need to concern yourself with that, yet. If anyone gets mean towards you again, just let me know and I take care of it, okay?"

"Or Alex does it!," Vanessa added with a big grin. "Or Alex, true.," Kylie agreed. "Or Mali. Or DJ! Oh, or Mighty! Or Scythe! And Curi!" Grinning, she looked over her mother's shoulder at the duo. Scythe looked up at being addressed, found the light blue eyes and smirked. "Sure, one word of you and I'll be there."

Vanessa giggled. "See? You have so many friends to help you – and your family, too.," Kylie grinned.

The girl nodded, much happier now. She let herself out of her mother's arms, but stilled, when she came face to face with Sonic.

She bit her lip, before she stammered, "I...a-are you...I... I mean...is Hope...okay for you?" Sonic blinked, before realizing, what she meant.

He paused for a second, thinking. Then, he smiled. "I'll be honest, you surprised me a little there, but I'm having an adopted brother, too, so I understand you. And you are really a great family together. Hope is lucky to have you."

Vanessa blushed in joy and seemed tempted to hug him, but hugged her mother instead, thankfully.

"And we're happy and lucky and thankful to have Hope. She's an angel.," Alex mused. "And me?," Vanessa asked with a pout. "A brat of course.," Alex smirked. Van scowled and stuck out her tongue at him.

"Enough. Now, you two, don't let your friends wait any longer.," Kylie stopped the fight, before it could start.

"Okay! Come on, Emma, race you!," Vanessa cheered and the two girls almost ran Scythe over on their way outside.

"She cries – and two seconds later, she's happy again. My sister will conquer the planet.," Alex shook his head. "She is a strong little girl, true. By the way, I expect, that you apologize to Shadow.," Kylie replied.

"Yeah, not going to happen." His eyes slipped over to Sonic, who raised a brow. "Sorry, but I can't stand guys, who are too narrow-minded to give something unusual a chance. And I honestly don't care, what his past looked like – I'm not ashamed for speaking my mind. And that's final!" With that, he stormed out of the room.

"I'm not sure, if I should be proud, or angry.," Kylie shook her head after him. "Go for proud, he has a strong will, just like you.," Scythe replied for her and stood up with Curi in her arms. "I'll be going then."

"Yeah, thank you, for everything.," Kylie replied. "No problem. Call me for anything." Waving, Scythe turned to her left, going deeper in the building, passing Zen on her way.

Said hedgehog looked up just long enough to see the yellow eyes of the animal staring at the seat next to him, until it couldn't see it anymore from its position. "Hm, interesting.," Zen thought, before returning to his book.

In her office, Kylie took a deep breath. "Sorry for all the stress here. I'll step out for a minute and be right back, alright?," she apologized. "Don't you think, that you have something to explain?," Knuckles growled.

Kylie smiled. "I adopted Hope two years ago – and this is all I will say for as long as Tails and Amy are present. Excuse me for a minute." With that, she exited her office and closed the door.

She leaned against the wood of said door, just when she had closed it, taking a second to collect herself.

"Mist?," she eventually called silently. A silver shine appeared on one of the seats next to Zen. Kylie moved over to see the ghost sit there, shining in a dark silver, a murderous glare in his teary eyes. The silvery tears running down his cheeks pooled between his feet to a puddle, that moved, as if something wanted to rise out of it.

"Mist." She knelt down in front of him. "I know, that my friend upset you, but I assure you, he didn't mean it. Shadow grew up around humans. Although he had friends there, most saw him just as an experiment. After what happened on the Island, I don't blame him for assuming, that I have something evil in mind for our little Hope. Do you understand?," Kylie asked, gently.

Mist looked at her, scowled and turned his head away, but the silvery fluid disappeared and so did he, probably to calm down.

"These mobians just love to shake up my life, don't they?," Kylie thought, allowing herself a small burst of annoyance, before brushing her ponytail off her shoulder and straightening.

"Mephiles?," she called and the seme appeared, together with Shadow, who he held with his tentacles like before. Both had bruises and cuts littering their bodies, that were already in the process of healing. Shadow was also covered partly by something, that looked like ice.

"I'm not going to ask. Thanks for your help, Mephiles, you can release him now.," Kylie ordered.

Shadow glared at her, when he was released and Mephiles' presence – and Sonic's predictable fury – seemed to be the only things stopping him from attacking the woman. "How does this boy know about my past?," he accused. "I didn't tell him anything, although I could, I know probably more about you, than Alex. To answer your question, he hacked into the GUN systems.," Kylie immediately cut off his assumptions. She would never gossip about her friends, not even with her son.

"And how would _you_ know something about me?" "Mephiles thought I should know.," Kylie grumbled at the dark seme, who shrugged. "You wanted to know."

"Not about the splitting headache, that came with it. I was bedridden for three days – do you have any idea, what that means for a single mother!?"

"How do YOU know of my past!?," Shadow snarled at his non-related twin, interrupting the fight between the two.

"Remember, I stole your shadow. Did you really THINK, that I just stole your body's information with it? I know every single bit of your past, _project_ Shadow.," Mephiles smirked. "Then why did you never use it against me?," Shadow growled. He could have easily used information about Maria to catch him off guard and win the fight! Why wouldn't he?

"Where would have been the fun in that? I prefer to destroy my opponents' bodies first and _then_ their souls. The moment you are nothing but a writhing pile of flesh in front of me, I _gladly_ torture you with your past.," the other seme sneered.

"Mephiles, enough. One more word and you will spend tomorrow with playing tea party with Cream and Vanessa.," Kylie deadpanned and to Shadow's surprise, the seme seemed to be slightly threatened, if his sudden disappearance was anything to go by.

"Shadow, I never wanted to know about your past, but Mephiles didn't know that, he planted the memories in my brain before I knew it, when he had the feeling I could need it. He would take them away again, but getting rid of that mass would damage my brain in ways nobody can foresee.," the woman apologized.

Shadow looked at her, before averting his gaze and sighing. "I don't like, that you and Sonic get along this well, but don't think, that I see you as a bad person.," he stated with some obvious difficulties.

Kylie smiled. Seemed, as if that was as close to a declaration of friendship as he could get. "Thanks, Shadow. And really, Sonic is just my friend. I actually see him as some kind of mix out of a hyperactive son and a best friend.," he chuckled. Shadow just nodded.

The woman contemplated speaking now with him over Sonic's immortality, but Zen was close and although he could lose himself in his books, he was also an attentive listener. Not to mention, that Sonic – or someone of his friends – were bound to get anxious and burst in their conversation at some point.

"Do you want to freshen up a bit, before you return to the others?," she asked instead, pointing to the blood in his fur, that looked out of place, since his wounds had already healed without a problem. The strange ice was gone, too, most likely already melted. "Meet you there.," Shadow smirked and vanished, while Kylie went back in her office.

* * *

Under the curious glances of her friends, she walked back behind her desk, sitting down. "Alright, sorry again for all the chaos. If you want to, we can pick up our talk from before I had been called."

"Shouldn't you return Shadow before we do that?," Rouge asked with crossed arms. "I already did, but he needs to freshen up after being with Mephiles for a few minutes.," Kylie grinned. "Now, do you have any ques-"

"Me!" At once, Amy was sitting on her knees on the human's desk, touching noses with the startled woman. "Er...yes?," Kylie asked. "Is it true, that ukes can also mate females!?," Amy asked with shining eyes, speaking almost too fast to catch her question.

"Well, since ukes can father children as semes do, yes, but how do YOU know that?," the woman asked, surprised. "Oh, this Rio asked me out and when I asked, why he wanted to do this, being an uke and all, he told me this.," Amy explained quickly. "Ah, I see. And did you answer him?" "What do you mean?," the pinkette asked, blinking cluelessly.

"Forget it." Kylie shook her head. Poor Rio. She knew, that he was crushing a bit on Amy as his saving angel, so he was probably put out now.

"So if it's true, Sonic and I can marry, right!?," the hedgette cheered. "I'm afraid, no." Sonic breathed out in relief at that, while Amy's face fell. "W-What!? WHY!?," she practically screamed, making Kylie wince.

Gently, she pushed Amy a little back. "While it's true, that many ukes of the Delta-rank, quite a few of the Gamma-rank and even a few of the Beta-rank date females, among the Alphas only the females ever consider doing this, never the ukes."

"W-what!?," the pink furred hedgehog raged. "But that doesn't make any sense!" "Yes, it does. Alpha ukes won't ever mate a female, because their instincts fear for a pregnancy. Even now, Alphas refuse to ever date a female because of their instincts."

"W-well, we don't need to have kids...," Amy tried to bargain, as if convincing Kylie was the last obstacle between her and Sonic. "I'm afraid, Sonic's instincts will demand offspring, to create a new Alpha."

"What would be wrong with me becoming Sonic's mate!? I'm sure, that I could bear his child!," Amy practically whined.

Kylie sighed. "Okay, I'll formulate it differently, then. Sonic is for you a hero, correct? So to say a 'knight in shining armor', who always comes for you, when you need help. This is, what you expect of him to be as a mate, too, am I right?," the woman asked.

"Well, yes, of course.," Amy replied, confused as to why she was stating the obvious. "I see. Then you'll hate the next part. Because this isn't, how Sonic will work as a mate."

"W-what!?," Amy asked perplexed. "Alphas always choose mates, who they deem as equally strong or even remotely stronger than themselves and that for two reasons. Reason one: sooner or later, they will be pregnant and need the protection of their mates during that time. Reason two: Alphas care about everyone – but not their mates."

"H-Huh!?," Amy gasped. "Of course they do, but in normal situations, not during emergencies. If for example Eggman would send out two very dangerous robots and send one after a city and one after Shadow, Sonic would ALWAYS go after the one attacking the city. He needs to be able to trust Shadow to handle himself, even if the enemy seems to be almighty. That means, if you, by whatever twisted miracle, would become Sonic's mate, you won't ever be able to count on his help again, if someone else is in danger at the same time.," Kylie told her.

"B-but-" Tears bubbled up in her eyes, while she tried desperately to think about another argument, but she came up empty-handed with every try.

"I HATE YOU!," she suddenly screamed at nobody in particular, turned around, jumped off the desk and ran out of the room, almost running over Shadow, who conveniently opened the door, when she reached it, but he just stepped back to let her pass.

"Did I miss something?," the seme asked, while entering and closing the door. He didn't deny, that he was kind of glad to see the annoying girl as far away as possible from Sonic.

"Weren't you a little harsh?," Knuckles frowned, ignoring the dark hedgehog – and earning groans from Rouge and Kylie.

"What?," he asked confused. "That's the talking of a man, who has NO idea about women.," the bat shook her head.

"No, Knuckles, it was good to be this harsh. You shouldn't play with a girl's heart and leave a bit of hope in there. It's like cutting off the dead or diseased parts of a plant, then you don't leave anything remotely sick or dead on it, do you? Amy is heartbroken, true, but she will heal in time, just like a cut plant will grow again. Leaving any kind of hope in her heart, that she and Sonic could ever be together, would have been worse.," Kylie explained.

"Save your breath, Kylie, I don't think, that you'll get it in this thick skull of his.," Rouge huffed, causing Knuckles to growl.

"Should she be alone right now?," Sonic asked, concerned. "Sonic, here, she won't ever be alone. There will be more people to comfort her, than she'll possibly want. I know, that you want to comfort her, too, but right now, you are the last person she wants to see. It's not for forever.," she soothed, when Sonic became very worried. "Don't worry, it'll pass. She'll cry, eat her own weight in ice cream, curse the whole world, sew voodoo-dolls of you and Shadow and mistreat them with needles, break a few things and cry some more, but she'll eventually calm down, go on and be part of your friends again."

"Did you have such a heartbreak once?," Rouge asked with a raised brow. Kylie seemed to be awfully good informed about that...

"Thankfully, no, but a big part of my female friends. I had a lot of time and occasions to study this phenomenon, so to say.," Kylie replied.

"I don't think, that Sonic would just leave Shadow to fend for himself, though...," Tails stated thoughtfully, while the agent took his seat again. "I let the reality sound harsher, than it really is, to get the point across, but not by much. The truth is, if Eggman ever attacked a city and Shadow at the same time, Sonic's instincts would know instantly, if Shadow needs help, or if he can handle himself. If he seems to have a hard time, he will probably try to help at both fronts – something, he could pull off with his speed. If Sonic, however, had to decide between Shadow and someone of his colony, like you, for example, he would always choose you...unless your emergency is smaller, than Shadow's, of course." Tails flushed a little upon her words.

He just wanted to ask something else, when a hesitant knock sounded on her door. "Come in!," Kylie called and the door opened slowly with the mongoose girl from earlier sticking in her head. "Doctor Ellen? I...I have the test results you asked for.," she explained, keeping her eyes away from Sonic's direction. "That's great, bring them in, please.," Kylie smiled friendly.

Still unsure, Mina entered, a file in her hand, that she held in front of herself like a protective shield, while inching her way in, as if her legs were out of lead.

Shadow, impatient to get answers, darted for it, but the girl gave a startled squeak, ducked and rushed around him and behind Kylie's chair, peeking out from her hiding place nervously. It took the surprised seme – as well as Knuckles, Rouge and Tails – a good minute to find the girl again.

"Shadow, behave yourself. This is no way to treat a lady.," Kylie scolded, before turning to the mongoose. "Thank you, Mina." She took the file and the girl rushed out, keeping her eyes down and making a bow around Shadow as much as possible. Kylie was already reading the file, highly concentrated.

It was silent for a few minutes, before Tails decided to break this silence. "S-So?," he asked carefully.

"Huh!?," Kylie snapped to attention. "Oh, I'm sorry, I got a little distracted. Thilo added an incomplete profile of Sonic and he likes it to put in difficult words instead of the easier synonyms."

"Why did he make a profile of me anyway?," Sonic asked with a raised brow. "Pure curiosity of mine. I'll be honest, I had a slight idea already of what might be wrong, but the hallucinations and the distance you kept to everyone but me and Happy just didn't add up..."

"What do you mean 'distance you kept to everyone but me'!?," the very angry Shadow interrupted in a dangerously calm voice.

Kylie smiled, but didn't answer and just turned to Sonic. "Sonic, what you are having, isn't contagious."

She hadn't even ended, before Shadow found himself with a blue hedgehog settled on his lap, cuddling as close as possible to him, the smallest of purrs escaping his throat. Out of a reflex, the seme raised his arms to hug him, but stopped halfway, unsure, if it was allowed, or if it would drive Sonic away again.

Kylie chuckled. "Enjoy it, Sonic and you suffered the most from the separation. This is his way of making it up to you and catching up with all the missed touches and bonding moments."

Immediately, Shadow hugged his mate tightly, as if he could disappear, if his grip was too loose, enjoying every second.

"Contagious?," Tails asked, after having digested, that his brother allowed physical contact again. "You mean, he thought, that we would get the same, if he didn't distance himself from us?"

"Yes. I'm surprised I didn't understand this earlier. It is actually quite common for Alphas to distance themselves from their colonies, when they feel sick. They only let healers in their range, because they trust them to help them and because healers can't get sick. Their special, always active Chaos Energy prevents them from getting infections and illnesses.," Kylie explained.

She felt a little stupid, actually, that she had needed Thilo to figure this out. She had even read something about Alphas burying themselves alive, when they became ill and the colony's healer was clueless about the cure, to prevent a contagion of the colony. She had been probably Sonic's last hope – not, that he was aware of that consciously. If she hadn't found anything, he would have been pushed to commit suicide by his instincts to protect the others.

Shadow could now understand, why Sonic had ordered him to shower with hot water and to clean these three rooms – he would need to cross the hallway to go from the bathroom to the kitchen, where the cleaning supplies were. He had wanted to prevent any bacteria from spreading and infect him, or the fox. It wondered him a little, that he didn't consider his Chaos Control – which would have spared him the cleaning of the hallway – but he could chalk it up to his mental exhaustion.

"Did Sonic have no problem with you being close, because he saw you as a healer, too?," Rouge asked.

"No, nothing like that. I'm also an Alpha, Sonic's instincts knew that and trusted me to be able to handle it."

"And not me!?," Shadow asked, offended. "According to your instincts, there isn't something like an Ultimate Lifeform, you are just a seme out of many in front of them. See it like that: Sonic cared more about your welfare, than mine.," Kylie replied. This pleased the seme greatly.

Sonic could imagine, that since his instincts had latched to Conscious Shadow, he had a hard time with assessing his true capabilities, just like Instinct Shadow had with him.

"So...Sonic is sick?," Tails asked confused. "No, not in the traditional sense. The reason, why he has all those symptoms, is for one, that his body tries to tell him, that something is wrong and he NEEDS a healer, or doctor. The second reason is, that his body tries to fight something it _thinks_ is an illness."

Tails nodded in thought. Sonic really had had symptoms that served to get rid of a virus, like fevers or vomiting, while the eating of vegetables and fruit as well as the long sleeping were meant to give his immune system a boost with extra vitamins and energy. In retrospective, it all made sense now.

"And what is wrong with him?," Knuckles asked impatiently. Kylie worried her lip, seeming to think about a way to tell them. Finally, she took a deep breath. "Try as I might, you'll need to cover your ears again. I don't want to risk traumatizing you – and I'll leave it to Sonic this time to decide, if you can handle it.," she stated towards Tails.

Sonic looked surprised, while Tails made sure, that he could see his brother easily and covered his ears.

"Alright, now, on the Island, while you, Silver and Scourge as well as your semes had been in this cell, Perringten let it flood all the time with a mixture out of oxygen – so you could breathe, of course – and a drug in gas-form, that was based on your blood, Sonic. Perringten knew, as I already said, that you are an Alpha and he needed you drugged all the time to keep you as weak as possible. Although he never understood, what an Alpha is, he had some clues, that an angry, strong Alpha is bad for his plans.

This drug got accepted by your system as easy as a body cell of yours and most of the substances it had been mixed out of got treated like parts of your nourishment. Your body treated this stuff like vitamins, minerals and trace elements and started to store it away in your body cells, where they still reside, since they had no use for your body. Here, this are the traces of the drug the scan found." Kylie held out a piece of paper for Sonic to take.

He grabbed it and held it in front of his face. His eyes widened. On the paper was a white, with black outlined silhouette of him – and it was filled with bluish-black dots all over. They seemed to center in his stomach, some were in what he presumed were his lungs, in his arms and legs were thankfully only a few. What worried him were the dots forming a line from his neck to the other end of his lower body. His spine.

"I don't get it. Sonic had this stuff in him for almost two years now – why is he only now showing these symptoms? Why not earlier?," Knuckles asked.

"Wow, that... was a surprisingly clever question.," Rouge gaped. "Wha-? Watch it, bat!," Knuckles spat angrily.

"The answer to that will be surprising as well.," Kylie cut them off. "All hedgehog ukes and females, who are in the right age to breed, go through some kind of 'inner check up' about two months before their mating season starts. It's a measure the epidemic made necessary, I guess. Basically, the number of white cells in your blood enhances temporarily, searching for any kind of virus or bacteria to either destroy it, or to alert the owner of the body, if they can't, which is rare."

"Surprise is correct – I haven't ever heard of something like this.," Rouge stated with wide eyes.

"I bet, it isn't a very well-known fact. 99% of those yearly processes happen silently anyway, so they don't need to know it. The chance for ever having a problem is very low after all, they usually start and end without any sign for the owner of the checked body. Only in 1% of all cases do the females or ukes feel a little discomfort and then they usually go to doctors or healers – and don't wait for two weeks.," Kylie added with a pointed glare at Sonic, who looked away from her. Shadow growled warningly, pulling his mate a little closer.

Kylie rolled her eyes. "The drugs in Sonic's body have no influence on him, they are just dead weight, without harming him... well, if he was an old hedgehog, I would be more concerned, but not when he's this young. Should he become pregnant, however, the child or children would suffer severe damage, or even die. Since almost your whole womb is infested, your immune system rang an alarm."

"So this is just for making sure, that Sonic – or any other female or uke for that matter – can conceive and carry?," Rouge asked.

"And survives the mating. Some females have the problem of a 'twisted womb', that can actually lead to death during mating. Ukes run this risk far less, if at all. And before you ask – I would have found something like that during the examination.," she interrupted Shadow right before he could ask.

"So, can you remove the stuff?," Sonic asked, looking back at her. "Yes, we can, in two steps. Step one is a bath with a special herbal essence. The microscopic particles in the essence will pass your body's borders through your skin, eyes and lungs and spread through it with your bloodstream, disassemble the remains of the drugs into harmless products and allow your body to get rid of them like it does with all other things it doesn't need anymore in you. Nicole estimated, that it should take you about two to three baths to get rid of most of it. The problem after that is your spine, a good part of the drugs' remains resides in your bone marrow, no bath in the world could help with that. Instead, we'll ask Happy for help. He might be actually be able to help you."

"Might?," Sonic asked, trying to ignore the fact, that he had to sit in a tub filled with water for who knew how long. He knew, why he preferred showers.

"Well, modern medicine is at a loss, so I'm putting all my hope in Happy. He is the best healer here and he might have an idea I haven't thought about, yet. It definitely needs to go, too, since every little rest of it could in the worst case wander towards your womb again, or become harmful over time."

"How do you even know, that the bath will help?," Shadow asked distrustfully. "Maybe it will make everything worse!"

"Thanks a lot for your trust, Shadow." Kylie rolled her eyes again. "We already had two of those cases, so we know, that it works. As you might remember, Sonic hadn't been alone in this cell. While you semes automatically dissolved the drugs, Silver and Scourge didn't have this much luck, but since they weren't the ones the drug had been designed for, their bodies didn't absorb that much. When they decided to live here and got checked through for any illnesses, I found small amounts of the drugs' remains in them, that they hadn't located, yet. One bath for each of them was enough to get the drugs out of them. Nicole considered their previous amounts of drug-remains, Sonic's and his metabolism to calculate how many baths and what amount of bath essence he'll need."

Sonic nodded in thought at hearing that and eventually gave Tails a sign to listen again. He explained his brother the reason for his symptoms, but left out, why they had started right now. He would have a talk about the bees and the birds later – if it was even necessary. Tails knew – thanks to his research for Sonic and about ukes – probably more about this topic, than he himself.

At the end of his report, Tails frowned. "I can't believe I never found this, I scanned Sonic repeatedly in the last two years!," he berated himself.

"You never looked for something like that, for something so tiny, don't blame yourself. The important part is, that we found it and know a way to cure it.," Kylie soothed.

Tails frowned still, deep in thought. "Kylie? Why...has nobody heard of ukes before two years ago? I thought about it already many times, but I just can't imagine any reason.," he explained after asking his question.

"That's a good question. You see, ukes had been, in earlier days, long before the colonies fused together to cities and towns, worshiped like gods. They were seen as the 'best of both worlds', combining the strength and calm mind of the male and the fertility and empathy of the female. There were statues of pregnant males everywhere for a period of time, when other species imagined their own gods as ukes.

After a few centuries, however, the colonies dissolved naturally. Less and less Alphas were born and the colonies were without a leader after the current Alpha had died. Since this happened shortly after each other to different species, they started to live together. It was most likely after the hedgehogs' example, though. One by one, the colonies became cities all over the world and the former colony hierarchies changed to new ones for all of the city inhabitants, since so many different species were now living together.

At first, the hedgehogs' hierarchy was the example for all of them, but over a few generations, the people organized themselves differently. Most people on our continent had, according to this new, two-part-hierarchy, the lowest status and only a small rest of the society was seen as noble due to their wealth and with that superior. The rich people alone were allowed to get educated, which costed a lot of goods and later money back then, while the peasants and workers, who built the lower part in the hierarchy, had to learn everything they needed from their parents and older siblings, neighbors, or colleagues.

Naturally, wisdom was rare among the poor people and superstitions widely spread. Science didn't actually exist back then yet and the people couldn't understand natural phenomenons, or when something diverted from what little they knew. They explained unusual things with the doing of gods or monsters, most of all the devil. When they saw a pregnant male hedgehog, they immediately thought, that he was the lover of the devil and therefore needed to be killed, before the devil's spawn could be born. They didn't believe the hedgehogs, that it was completely natural for them and only for their specie. Many ukes and their unborn young fell victim to the superstitions and got killed, or cruelly tortured to death to get them to reveal the identity of the father, the devil. From what I know, only a few ukes named their semes, all the others died staying silent. Some towns even went so far and forced all male hedgehogs to go through an examination, that would reveal them as ukes by some thought-out indicators. The ukes living there fled in other cities or towns, that wouldn't hunt them, until they became visibly pregnant."

"What did the ukes do?," Tails asked, his eyes wide. "They had no other choice, when they became pregnant, which they couldn't avoid sometimes during mating season, they hid their growing bellies and their other ailments and when they went into labor, they made their way into the woods to try and give birth on their own. If they and the young survived, they would usually go into another village and pretend to be the father of the child, or children, who lost their mother in childbirth and let a female, a wet nurse, feed and raise them, while he built himself a new life, pretending to be a seme. They never revealed to their children, that they were their mothers and tried to get their sons to have only females as partners, so they wouldn't ever get pregnant themselves. Little by little, ukes disappeared out of everyone's memory, hedgehogs or not, and in the time span of a few more centuries, they were completely forgotten."

"Why...did the ukes not survive the birth?," Tails asked with a fearful voice, having apparently focused on that. It was clear, what he thought – Sonic could become pregnant, would he die, too, if he became it?

Kylie's eyes softened at seeing his fear. "Come here for a sec, please?," she asked gently. Reluctantly, Tails slid off his chair and went around her desk and to her. Carefully, the woman wrapped her arms around him and lifted him up on her lap, holding him in a gentle, motherly hug, allowing him to lean against her for reassurance.

"Back then, the hygienic situation had been catastrophic and most of the ukes had been completely alone with the pregnancy. They didn't know, what to do, when they were in labor, they only had their instincts to depend on, no help or guidance in any way. Nowadays, people like Sonic can turn to many experts all around the world, so whenever he decides to carry, he'll be in the best hands possible.," Kylie soothed.

Tails nodded silently. "The thought of pregnancy is pretty scary, huh?," she asked with empathy. Tails bit his lip, blushing and his ears pressing to his skull, his tails wrapping around him.

Smiling, Kylie gently stroke his head. "It's okay, I'm pretty sure, that it is the same for Sonic. Want me to tell you a little about how it could be like, should Sonic become pregnant?"

All three brothers in the room felt heat creep up their cheeks at hearing that, but Tails nodded reluctantly. Bryan's lies from about two years ago and the less than trustworthy, contradicting each other bits of information he had managed to gather so far had made him insecure and he needed some truthful statements now.

"Alright. Let's see, should he ever become pregnant, he won't run for as long as he carries, because for one, his instincts will warn him from trying to do anything strenuous, as this could harm the unborn young, and second, he will feel as sick as he does currently. In the first month, he will probably become sick in the mornings, but the intervals are always different – he might even just become sick once and that's it. Since he's an Alpha, I'm pretty sure, that he won't vomit very often. His behavior won't change much, but he will think a second time before doing something, that might be dangerous.

In the second month, he will feel hungrier and more tired. There will be days, when he won't even move from his bed and sleep for up to twelve hours straight and eat twice or even trice as much as usual. He will have strange cravings, that he won't eat normally and become more moody. He might snap at you for something trivial, or for something you didn't even do. Don't take it personal, he will feel horrible afterwards.

In the third month, Sonic will need the help of Shadow to move around and sleep even longer, or have several naps during the day. You will be one of the few people he will still tolerate around himself. People, who he doesn't know this well, will be growled at, or attacked. Also, he will start to build a nest out of his bed, soften it, so the young have a nice place to stay in. Don't try to tell him, that the child or children have a room and crib already, he won't listen to it. After giving birth, Sonic won't let anyone close to his young for a week, not even you – and Shadow only to provide him with food and water. After that, you can see the little ones, who will one day call you 'Uncle Tails'.," Kylie ended with a smile.

Tails blushed deeply at that, hiding more in his tails, while Sonic couldn't help a smile of his own. Tails would be a great uncle, he knew that already.

"Anymore questions?," Kylie asked, letting the still flustered fox off her lap, when he had started to squirm.

"Yeah. Sonic had been examined by at least a thousand doctors all over the world – why had nobody ever told him, that he has a womb in him?," Tails wondered, as if thinking out loud.

Sonic's ear twitched. He was right, no one had ever mentioned something like that – and he had been probably in every hospital on the planet already.

"Well, besides the fact, that for sure not all of them needed to examine his lower body, I'm pretty convinced, that most of the remaining ones discovering it just didn't know, what it was. The womb of mobians looks slightly different for each species, it could have been, that they had never seen a hedgehog's womb, especially, when they weren't gynecologists. Besides, you don't really look for a womb in a male, or immediately think, that there has to be one. They could have thought, that is was some kind of second bladder or another stomach, or something like that. A second organ, in addition to the first. That wouldn't have been this bad, or an overly rare phenomenon. At least 40% of all living beings on Mobius have an additional organ. That are just natural happenings and I don't blame the doctors you had met so far for assuming, that Sonic has a second stomach there. Say, did some doctors want to do some further examinations on Sonic?," she asked.

"Almost all, but Sonic barely holds still for the basic examination and was usually gone, before they had ended. Wasn't it irresponsible to not tell Sonic, that there is something else in him?," Tails asked, a little upset, sitting by now on his brother's vacant chair to be closer to him.

"Most of them probably didn't want to worry you. The womb was there, but it didn't influence anything. Sonic didn't have problems with it and it was healthy, neither dying, nor infected or in any way threatening to get infected in the long run. Trying to remove it would have been unnecessary and maybe even risky. I can imagine, that the doctors made a note in Sonic's file for their colleagues to know, that there is something, that has no real function and isn't threatening either. It would give your doctors a hint of where to look, should something be wrong with you without an outer indicator.," Kylie explained, using her own thinking for the answer.

"That explains Sonic, but what with all the other ukes, who became pregnant? Shouldn't this have become public, when a male had become pregnant in the last centuries?," Rouge asked.

Kylie sighed and brushed back a loose strand. "I rather answer that later. Tails, do you have any questions, before the adult-talk starts?"

Tails frowned at her answer – or lack of that –, before thinking about a question bothering him for a while now. He just had no idea, how he should formulate it. "It's just...Bryan said, that Sonic was acting weak because of his instincts. I know, that it was because of the drugs, but...will Sonic...well...?" He stopped, biting his lip.

Kylie smiled, understanding him. "It is true, that some mobians indeed change their behavior around mating season, but not their character, no mobian with or without a partner will do that. Mature mobians will, however, start to build a nest out of their beds around their mating season to show, that they are ready for offspring. It's an unconscious doing, triggered by their instincts. They will do this during a pregnancy, too, for the young."

"Will I do that, too?," Tails asked, curious. "Er... as far as I know, the nest-making is part of the instincts of prey females and ukes and predator males, so it might be, that you do that, yes."

"Why these exactly?," Sonic wondered. "Prey mobians built their nests carefully, making sure to reach perfection. This way, they showed, that they would be perfect mothers and therefore great mates and hoped to attract semes. You already have your mate, so don't worry about it. Should you become pregnant, then you'll build a nest, too, as I already said. It might be, that you become as pedantic, too, since it'll be for your young."

"Are the semes building traps here because of that?," Knuckles wondered. "Yes. The nest-building is the way of prey females and ukes to show, how good they would care for their young, while the prey semes show their potential mates, that they are strong enough to provide and protect a family – and some try this with traps, while others have other ways."

"And predator mobians?," Tails asked, curiously. "Predators lived far more dangerous, since there were humans and prey mobians after them, to eliminate them, before they could kill them. It was therefore the males' job to find a suitable hiding spot, usually a cave, or something like that, where they could raise the young safely. When you come of age, you will probably look for secluded living areas and even consider living in a cave." Seeing Tails' worried expression (technology didn't work very well in caves), she added, "Don't worry, you can suppress these instincts easily enough, since you don't feel threatened all the time like the predators did in older days. They barely got a break."

Tails nodded in thought. "And what about predator females? How do they attract their mates?," Rouge wondered. "By showing, that they are strong. They needed to prove, that they would protect the young, even if the seme should die." The mobians frowned at that, but the woman wasn't surprised, that they couldn't follow this train of thought – Tails was still young, and the others prey mobians, after all.

"Any other questions?," Kylie asked. The fox frowned, but eventually shook his head. For now, he needed to process a lot.

"Alright. How about you go back to the Garage then, and spend some more time with Snow?," Kylie suggested, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen and starting to write on it.

Tails' eyes lit up at the prospect, but then dulled again. "But...Mali said, that people under 18 need to absolve a special test, before they can hope to get permission to enter and work in the Garage without someone accompanying them all the time – and that test takes a whole week!," he argued.

"Oh, I know that, I made this rule, after all. That's, why I know the second way to get a free ticket to the Garage."

She put the pen aside and grabbed something hidden behind a staple of files, pressing it in the lower part of the paper. When she took it off, there was an inky, strangely formed dot on it – a mark from a rubber stamp.

"You get the permission by the director herself.," she continued, holding the piece of paper out to him. Tails took it and Sonic, whose curiosity was stronger than his need for Shad's warmth – for now –, leaned over and looked at the paper, too.

_I, Dr. Kylie Ellen, allow Miles 'Tails' Prower unlimited access to the Garage for as long as he wishes to be there. This allowance has no expiration date._

, could be read on the paper, followed by her signature and mark, containing her name and the name of the Shelter as well as some kind of crest, showing a human hand, held protectively over a feral hedgehog, that sat on a gloved, probably mobian hand.

At once, Tails jumped up and over the desk to hug Kylie. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!," he cheered, before dashing out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

"I haven't seen him this happy, since I adopted him.," Sonic grinned fondly at the door, behind that Tails had disappeared, although he was for sure already gone.

"I bet, his reaction gave him a little away there.," Kylie chuckled, before taking a deep breath. "Alright, now I want to talk with you about some topics, that aren't suited for children and I rather don't want Tails and Amy to listen to this. I need to tell you some things, since you all deserve to know them." She straightened, steeling herself obviously. "Let's talk. About the Island.," she started.

* * *

And... done! Thanks for reading!

I realized, while I read the older chapters to put them together, that I was pretty much bombarding you with information... ...Sorry for that. -.-". I'm still in the process of creating the basic plot for my story, that's why there is so much information currently, but I should be done with that soon... Er...with chapter 10 at the very latest, I guess... After that, you'll get more story and less information, promise.

Anyway, have a nice weekend!


	9. 8: How to become evil - the story

Finally, I can update! I'm sorry for the long wait, I had a lot to do with university. Anyway, please enjoy!

_**WARNING!**_

You know, what this means. If you didn't read the marked part in The Island, then please don't do it here.

_**END OF WARNING!**_

* * *

**8: How to become evil – the story of Jester Perringten**

"LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!," Amy screamed at the startled male, who had approached her and was now quickly retreating. He was the maybe 30th hedgehog already in the last minute, who had approached her. These vultures.

No, not vultures. Vultures wanted to get their own gain and pleasure out of someone else's misery. These people here were angels. They wanted to help her. But she didn't WANT help! She wanted to hate the world for ultimately stealing Sonic from her!

She had so hoped, that her dream would come true. She had thought of course, that Sonic being an uke would be the end of her marriage-plans already. But then, he had started to avoid Shadow's touch and she had seen this as a hint of faith – until she had to realize, that Sonic had avoided her, and everyone else, too.

Looking up the matter in a library, she had found a book, that had said, that ukes would act like that, when they were about to change their taste in partners from male to female.

Not knowing, that this had been pure nonsense, she had started to flirt with Sonic at as many occasions as possible and had been hanging around him more to try and get this avoiding to stop, to get him to see her as the potential mate she wanted to be for him. Instead, he had run from her more often than when he hadn't been aware of him being an uke.

Finally figuring, that Sonic needed help to see her as his true mate, she had made her way over to the Uke Shelter to try and find someone to explain this switching of preferences to her.

And there, she had even met Sonic! She had seen it as a good sign, thought, that he wanted to help himself. That he had wanted to help the two of them to have finally a relationship – and Rio's explanation about ukes dating females had only given her more hope and determination. That Kylie had crushed mercilessly.

If what she said was true – and Kylie had been always honest so far – then she would never marry Sonic.

All of her dreams, that she had had for years, after being saved by Sonic for the first time and after watching this movie with human actors, who had married with a romantic wedding, had just crumbled to dust.

No white dress, no white roses, no white doves, no blue furred groom in a suit, standing there in front of the altar, waiting for her to step up to him at sunset, clothed in a white, beautiful dress. No Happy End.

It wasn't fair. Why did this have to happen to her? Did she do something wrong to deserve such a fate?

"If it isn't Pinky.," a dark voice said and Amy sighed. Number 31 just had to be someone she knew personally, hadn't she?

She raised her head. "Scythe, I don't-" She interrupted herself, when she looked up and saw more than just the green furred hedgette in front of her. She paled and tried to scramble back, but her way was blocked by hard wood – she had forgotten, that she had sat down under a tree somewhere, when her lungs had protested against the combination of running and sobbing.

"Is something the matter?," the older hedgette asked. "B-b-b-," she stuttered, her tongue failing her.

"What? Pinky, what's wrong with you?" Scythe raised a brow, not at all concerned by her growing fear. She couldn't imagine, just what the heck was so scary, she couldn't feel any threat.

"B-BEHIND YOU!," Amy screamed, screwing her eyes shut and pointing towards something behind the other girl.

"Hm?" Confused, Scythe turned halfway around – to see her reflection in the pupil of a yellow eye, that looked big enough to be a mirror.

It belonged to a giant wolf with gray fur. It was big enough for Scythe to fit effortlessly under it. Its paws were so large, that one could crush a dozen hedgehogs under it in one go.

Scythe quickly recovered from her small surprise and crossed her arms. If it weren't for Amy's fear, the pinkette would have noticed, that no one else was scared by the beast, neither the ukes, nor the children passing by.

"Okay, Curi, that's enough. Back to your normal size.," Scythe ordered. The wolf obeyed, shrinking in mere seconds to the size Amy had seen the wolf in first, in Kylie's office, as if letting air out of a balloon, his skin, fur, fangs and claws changing their size and volume, too.

"B-but...how?," she asked, perplexed. "Curi is kind of a shapeshifter, but instead of changing his form, he can only change his size."

"But why did he scare me like that?," Amy asked, still pressing herself against the tree bark, not trusting him not to attack her again.

"He didn't intend to. He often runs around here, when I don't take him with me and when he spots a crying uke or child, he feels the intensity of their grief and changes his size accordingly."

Earning even more confusion from the younger, Scythe added, "Curi learned quickly, that many ukes and children feel better by cuddling him, so he provides enough space for cuddling, according to the amount of sadness."

"Oh." Reluctantly, Amy relaxed. Curi yawned, before shrinking further, until he looked like the miniature figurine of a wolf. Barking – which Amy barely heard – he stood on his hind legs in front of her, begging.

"Er..." Slowly, Amy knelt down in front of him and placed her hand with its back on the ground next to the tiny wolf, allowing the animal to jump on it, nuzzling her thumb like a cat. It was such a sweet gesture, that Amy cooed.

"Now, care to explain, why Curi felt the need to get THIS big?," Scythe asked, sitting opposite of her and starting to polish the blade of her scythe with some random rag. The tip pointed thankfully around and behind her.

Amy bit her lip, but the small weight on her hand, that she held against her chest, was strangely calming and she finally took a deep breath, sharing her misery.

Her words jumbled over each other and she started to cry somewhere in the middle, but Scythe listened quietly and never interrupted her even once.

She had stopped polishing by the time Amy had finished and was pressing Curi to her cheek, who got wet and wetter by her still flowing tears.

Scythe grimaced at his unamused look he shot her. He hated bathing. A thick, pearly tear splashed on his head, while she watched, drenching him. Oh, she was so buying him a steak for dinner for this...

"Okay, let me get this straight – you believed, that you could date this blue hero Sonic?," she finally asked, trying to process the whiny speech from before.

"Uhuh.," Amy sobbed and more tears flowed down her cheeks. Curi rather changed to the size of a medium plushie, so he wouldn't be drenched to the bone completely. Amy didn't even notice, that she was now holding a bigger creature. If anything, she clung tighter to him.

"Er...wasn't it kinda clear, that you can't, when this fat guy with the egg fetish revealed him to be an uke?," Scythe asked confused. "Y-yeah, but I read in a book, that ukes can change their preferences!," Amy wailed.

Scythe blinked, frowning for a minute in thought. "I'm for sure not reading very often, but that sounds like total nonsense.," she finally stated.

Amy only nodded and hugged the poor Curi tightly. Yeah, by now, she had figured that, too.

Scythe winced for her pet, that was still drenched in tears. He had _so_ earned a second steak already, maximum size...

"Why do you even want to be with him? I mean, if you're so interested in a relationship, won't another male do?," the greenette asked slowly. "Marrying Sonic is everyone's dream!," Amy was convinced.

Scythe blinked. Oh. She was REALLY convinced, as if it was a law, or something like that. Even now, when apparently every door to him was closed and sealed, she kept her vision alive. If that went on, she would stay single forever, refusing every partner just because they weren't her – unreachable – type. And honestly, she didn't deserve this.

"Pinky, listen up: not EVERYONE dreams of marrying a hero – and not only, because marriage isn't exactly the mobians' way. Some people – also females – like it to be independent."

Amy blinked at her, confused. "That _means_, that we don't sit around and wait for a hero to come and save our asses, we rescue ourselves out of the misery.," Scythe explained exasperated, since the girl was truly not understanding her. Chaos, she was so naive!

"But-!," Amy immediately wanted to contradict, but Scythe was fed up by now and cut her off. "Do you want to be a damsel in distress for forever? A weak little girl, later a woman, who needs everyone's help?," she asked bluntly.

Amy bit her lip. Well, if she formulated it like _that_... "But...how can I change that?," she asked weakly.

"Come." At once, Scythe stood up, shouldering her weapon. "I'll show you, how to be tough. They will speak out the name Pinky with fear!"

"Er...m-my name's Amy, Amy Rose – and I don't think, that I want to be feared.," Amy slowly said, feeling a little scared by now, looking up at her.

Scythe rolled her eyes. "I exaggerated, Pinky, calm down. I'll show you how to be tough on the outside, to get a hard-, well, harder shell than your present one, but also, how to stay soft on the inside."

"Skitie! Skitie!," a loud voice suddenly shouted and the two girls turned around to see a small dog mobian boy running towards them. He couldn't be older than two years, his golden fur crusted with dried mud in patches.

Stumbling a little, he stopped in front of the hedgette, who went on one knee to not tower over him, her scythe placed on the ground with the blade pointing away, so that it wouldn't harm the boy under any circumstances.

"Look, I made skitie!," he exclaimed happily, showing her a stick, on that had been pierced a clumsily cut leaf, that now hung in the top part. It looked – with a lot of fantasy – indeed like a scythe.

"Wow." Scythe took the small crafted thing carefully, looking at it with professionalism. "Looks almost like mine, great job.," she praised and gently petted his head, giving the stick back.

The boy beamed. "I'll be skitie, too!," he explained, waving his 'weapon' so wildly, that it was a miracle, that the leaf didn't fall off. "Great, I'll wait for you, then. When you're old enough, we'll battle, okay?," Scythe promised. The boy squealed, hugged her and ran off with an excited "BYE!".

Amy stared at Scythe, who watched the retreating boy with fond amusement. "I thought, that you weren't so good in comforting and being nice!," she wondered, remembering her talk with Silver.

"I'm not good in comforting my _friends_, meaning people around my age. It gets harder and harder for me to be all nice the older my acquaintances get. I trust the older ones to just be mature and not to dissolve because of some tiny little incident, or because I'm a little rougher towards them – and when they have an actual reason to be sad or down, I honestly have nothing better to offer than 'it'll get better'. Children, however, deserve kindness and I give it to them."

Noticing Amy's confused glare, she shrugged. "I'm a very complicated person. Come on, let's do something against the broken heart." Still a little unsure, Amy followed the older deeper in the outer territory of the ukes.

* * *

"You know, why Perringten built the Island, correct?," Shadow asked immediately after Kylie's declaration.

The woman wasn't even surprised for a second. "Mephiles told you, didn't he?," she asked right back, apparently already knowing the answer. Shadow nodded.

"Before we come to that, I would rather hear about Hope first. You said, that you don't want to talk about it, as long, as Tails and Amy are there.," Sonic piped up, looking at Kylie with one eye, the other half of his face still buried in Shadow's fur.

Kylie chuckled. "You're showing the typical behavior of an Alpha. They always care about the young the most.," she grinned.

Sonic just shrugged. It was just, that it was strange and he wanted answers. Hope's age wasn't the reason for his curiosity...was it?

Kylie became serious again. "Tell me, Sonic, did you have the feeling to recognize little Hope?," she asked.

Sonic blinked. How did she...? "Yes, I just can't figure out from where.," he admitted. "I thought so. No wonder, that you don't recognize her. She had been the baby John rescued from the Island, the one, that you and I took care of."

This statement actually had Sonic turn around to her, sitting on Shadow's lap, as if he was a chair. His brain was working in overdrive. Yes, the girl's fur color fitted the one of the baby he remembered, but... "But this girl is at least six years old! The baby would be two years old now – if even!," he argued.

"I reassure you, that Hope _is_ two years old, she just doesn't look, or act her age." "But... how?," Sonic asked.

"Hope is a rare case, she inherited the abilities of both her parents equally. Only about 5% of all children born in a decade do that, all others have either none, only one, or one with the second in a rudimentary state, the true potential forever dormant in them.

Hope's mother had had an unique, very rare form of Chaos Energy, that is far more potential and stronger than even an Alpha's, yet, he wasn't one. This special Chaos Energy is created out of the normal one and allows a faster development of the body and mind. Her father, instead, is an energy sponge, he can absorb limitless amounts of Chaos Energy."

Shadow frowned at that. "The rings she is wearing – they are like mine, correct?," he asked.

"I...guess so. I honestly have no idea, technology isn't my forte. Ask John, he helped constructing them.," Kylie explained.

"You talked about the father, as if he was still alive – shouldn't he have her, then?," Rouge wondered.

Kylie sighed and shook her head. "Hope was conceived by rape and under the influence of drugs, the father doesn't remember the whole act. Also, semes and ukes were almost all strictly separated, the father had had never the chance to bond with the child."

"Bond?," Sonic asked. Kylie smiled. "Yes, it's actually the greatest thing about pregnancy. Parents create a bond with the children, while they are still growing inside the mother, and also shortly after birth. Caressing the belly, pressing against a kick or hit, talking with the little one... All these are ways to form a bond between parents and children.

The most important time to bond, however, is during the first two weeks after birth, at least for mobians. The parents will lock the scents of their newly born young in their systems, which allows them to recognize them everywhere as theirs. Even when their instincts take over, they will immediately recognize their young and never hurt them. The same goes for the pups, they will only during those two weeks have a chance to bond with their parents. If the family misses this time window, then a bond isn't easily formed, if at all. Nowadays, without colonies to take care of the children at all, missing out these weeks is fatal, especially for the pups.

Hope and her father never had this opportunity, so it would have been dangerous for her to stay with him. He had never the chance to develop father feelings and it was very likely, that he never would. In the worst case, Hope could have suffered from child abuse, because her father would have been completely at a loss of how to handle her. This was only the second reason, though, why I adopted her. The main reason was the reaction her abilities caused.

After I left the jail and...had a few rough patches of my own..." She rather formulated her divorce like that, not keen on having to explain it twice in one day, "...I wondered about the little baby I took care of on the Island, I wanted to know, how she was. It took me a good month, but I found her eventually in an orphanage. There, she had been isolated already in fear, that she could harm someone else, which just broke my heart.

A few days before, she had accidentally absorbed the energy of three other children playing with her and that had caused them to faint, while Hope had grown a few centimeters and had become more intelligent. The people responsible for the orphanage couldn't explain this at all and in the fear, that it could happen again, they had locked her alone in a small room, getting only in contact with her, when she was fed. One of the people there even suggested to get her to a scientist, to get examined.," she growled.

"Wow, I'm surprised you didn't kill him.," Rouge commented. "Believe me, I was tempted. They almost kissed my feet, when I told them, that I would take her.," Kylie huffed, frowning angrily.

"Weren't you worried about your own children? That they could faint, too?," Sonic wondered. It wasn't like her to risk her children's well-being...

"Of course I was, especially, when I felt faint myself after meeting her for the first time, but by the time all the formal stuff was through and I had built a fragile bond of trust with a two years old looking Hope, I had met John again and he had promised to think about a solution. At first, I let only Alex interact with her, figuring, that he could take her energy absorption easier, should it happen, and as soon, as I was sure, that she wouldn't absorb the energy of us anymore, she also met Vanessa."

"I get, that your son likes her, but don't you think, that he went a little overboard with protecting her?," Shadow growled, still a little miffed of how the young man had threatened and caught him off guard so easily.

Kylie smiled sadly. "Alex didn't protect her, he tried to protect _you_. I admit, though, that he had a very harsh way to do that and I apologize in his stead." "Protect me? From what?," Shadow asked, completely confused at hearing that.

As if on cue, Mist appeared again, sitting on the edge of Kylie's desk, several staples just resting in his body. He didn't look at anyone, just at his knees, his remaining ear pressed to his skull.

"He protected you from him, from Mist.," Kylie explained, gesturing to him. "If he hadn't protected you, then he would have probably killed you." Shadow looked at the ghost and then at the woman.

"A ghost. And kill me? How? And more importantly – why?" "Mother instinct. You made his daughter cry."

"Mother...? Mist is?," Sonic asked, flabbergasted, staring between Kylie and the ghost, who seemed even sadder than before. He remembered Mist's expression while talking with Hope and she had apparently no idea, who he was. He was a friend to her, nothing more. On the other hand, she was probably not ready to hear the truth, yet.

"Yes. Mist gave birth to Hope shortly before he died. He was the one pointing out her presence to John and Mephiles – although Mephiles understood that easier, than John.," Kylie added, remembering the stories of the two, especially, how Mist had screamed at Mephiles, which only he had been able to hear, when he had talked about destroying the whole floor – which would have, by consequence, killed little Hope, too.

When Mephiles had dug a hole in the funnel leading to the machine all pups had gotten thrown into, he had found the already decaying Mist.

The male had become too weak for Jester's and Stance's standards and been disposed together with his young. His body had been holding him in the funnel by using his untrimmed claws and sharp back quills, hanging between two segments, his three pups on his lap. They had stayed there, Mist too weak to move and free them for days, until he had eventually starved to death.

His limp body had continued to stay there, but thanks to the decaying, he had been about to slip further down, probably completely.

It had been pure luck, that no more people had gotten thrown down on him, the additional weight would have been their doom.

Only one of the little ones on his lap had had still a heartbeat, when the dark seme had found them.

Even though she had been barely alive back then, just an inch away from death, from joining her mother and siblings, Mist had always shadowed her, had always hoped for her to survive.

That was the reason for her name, Hope. Of course, Kylie had asked him for his opinion, when it had come to naming her. Since she had been so young, it had been easy to change her previous name, that the people in the hospital, where she had spent a whole month, had given her, without confusing her too much.

"I would still like to know, how this Mist would try to kill me.," Shadow reminded. At once, Mist whipped around to him, staring at him with so much venom, as if he wanted to kill him with that.

A dark, silvery energy started to surround him, actually causing the files around him to flutter lightly, as if touched by a gust of wind. There even appeared the slightest of cuts on the carton tops of the files and on the desk, too.

"Mist has, as I already said, an unusual Chaos Energy and it works even after death. From what I know from Mephiles, that's not usual. If anything, it's unique. He can form his Chaos Energy to objects, for example weapons, that pass the borders between life and death. I'm pretty sure, that he could decapitate you, if he wanted it. It was pretty hard to calm him down, but he understood finally, that you _didn't mean to make Hope cry_.," Kylie explained, adding the last part by stressing every word and with a glare towards Mist, who just looked away, crossed his arms and disappeared once more, his energy disappearing together with him, the files stopping the fluttering.

Shadow had crossed his arms, too, effectively pressing Sonic behind them closer to himself. "It's true, huh? You thought, that I had something in mind for Hope other than just raising her."

"You said yourself, that she is a rare case.," Shadow reminded. "True, but I didn't adopt her, because I wanted to gain something out of her. As a fact, all people in the orphanage were confused, or even scared by her abilities and they didn't try to get close to her, they isolated her systematically. I just felt so sorry for her, she didn't ask for all of that, after all. To make it worse, John calculated, that without those rings, she would age far faster than she did until then. In less than 5 years, she could already be 80."

"And if she loses those rings?," Sonic asked. "She can't. Those things have almost the same tiny robots Perringten once used in them, just more harmless, and they keep the rings always to Hope's body, as if she had swallowed a magnet."

"And they are working?," Sonic continued to ask, not sure, if John had been able to access the girl's true capabilities. From what he remembered of his boyfriend's tales, Shadow's creator had needed a good while to invent and perfect those rings he wore.

"Perfectly. In fact, lately, Hope's energy levels are evened out even better for some reason. It might be, that her body has matured already enough to handle the energy absorption mostly, but I'll be careful still. Maybe one day, she won't need those rings anymore. Until she is old enough, she'll keep them on." Sonic nodded in thought.

"Any more questions concerning my daughter?," Kylie asked. "How do you plan on raising her?," Knuckles asked back. "You are a human and she's a mobian, after all. There will be things you can't explain to her."

Kylie sighed and looked to the echidna with a lazy smirk. "Knuckles, I can barely talk _normally_ with Hope without at least one uke trying to lecture me about not calling her a mobian, since I am a human and that would 'totally confuse her', to not give her this or that to eat and so on. The second she'll ask me something I can't answer, someone will immediately be there to explain everything she wants to know about. For now, I'm absolutely capable of raising her without any help."

Her glare was daring the echidna to contradict her – and he wisely just nodded in acceptance.

"You wanted to talk about the Island.," Shadow reminded her, his arms around Sonic's waist and his chin on his shoulder, while the hero was comfortably leaning against him, his quills pressed down to not harm him.

"True. You could probably already imagine, that something as complex as the Island wasn't just built on a whim. To explain Perringten's motives, though, I first need to go back in time, to a certain day about 2000 years in the past.

Back then, when industry had been just beginning*, there lived Alister Perringten, an ancestor of Jester Perringten. Alister had been rich, too, and his favorite thing to do after work was talking with his best friend over pretty much every topic there was. One evening, however, the two were having a huge argument. It became so bad, that they separated and never became friends again. Alister was from this day on determined to show his new enemy, that he was right and the other not."

"What does this have to do with the Island?," Sonic asked confused. "Alister Perringten and his friend weren't having an argument over something trivial. They were talking about how they could conquer the world."

Noticing the dropped jaws, Kylie added, "It had been a simple, meaningless conversation at first, just a mental experiment, no plan, or anything – but their ideas clashed so badly, that they couldn't find an even ground and they refused to compromise. In the end, they wanted to prove to the other, that they were right, it became a bet – and they both wanted to win it. Alister was convinced, that he would win this bet with his former friend, because he had found something interesting, only a few weeks prior."

Kylie paused, grabbed a key hidden under a file and audibly unlocked and opened her top drawer. She pulled out a handful of photos and gave them to Sonic, who was the closest. He took them and looked at pictures of what seemed to be stone reliefs. He frowned at the photos, while going through them. Somehow, he had the feeling, that he had seen this style before somewhere...

"That's echidna-art!," Knuckles exclaimed loudly and far closer to him, than in the last few weeks, which let him jerk and almost caused him to let the pictures fall.

Shadow tightened his grip in reassurance, nuzzling his neck. He could imagine, that Sonic needed a day or two to get used to the closeness again. He felt tempted to teach the echidna a lesson for scaring his love, but after Sonic's latest display of anger, he rather let it be...for now.

The echidna took the pictures from Sonic and looked them through rapidly, before piercing Kylie with a glare. "How did this human come to art, that is only to be found on Angel Island!?," he hissed, as if he blamed her.

"Not only there, you obviously forgot, that Angel Island had once been connected with the ground we all walk on. When it had lifted off, a lot of the echidnas' temples and shrines had been left behind. While most of them got simply destroyed over time, Alister Perringten had the luck to find these reliefs in a hidden temple. He let his men bring all of the reliefs and treasures he found there to his home and his family kept them hidden, until John found them after he left the jail."

"I want them.," Knuckles growled. "Of course, anytime, they belong to your people after all. We keep them here, so whenever you can bring Angel Island closer, or ask Mighty for help, you can simply tell Mali to show you the storage room, where they are. You have my permission already."

"And why didn't you just inform me right away?," Knuckles asked irritated. "I didn't know, that they had been made by echidnas, art in general isn't something I had had ever an interest in. Besides, Alister – and his descendants – weren't really interested in where it came from and didn't document it. I only found out, because Mighty found one of the pictures last week by accident and asked me about it. He recognized the style from previous visits on Angel Island and wanted to bring the objects all over to you as soon as he has the time.," Kylie explained.

Knuckles huffed. "Fine. So, what's so special about those reliefs?," he asked, giving the pictures back.

"These pictures," Kylie lined the photos up on her desk, leaning them against several file staples, so the mobians could see all of them effortlessly, "depict the creation of the seven Chaos Emeralds."

Keeping this new bit of information in mind, Sonic looked at the pictures once more. The reliefs were withered, so it was hard to make out real patterns – the distance did actually help, as he noticed quickly.

On one of the pictures, that showed the whole relief, he could see a circle of seven small circles, that almost looked like balls, or bubbles, with a bigger circle of seven mobians – the tails, that they obviously had, revealed, that they weren't humans – forming around them.

Right next to the picture was another one, that looked almost like the first, but in the bubbles were now very familiar shapes – the Chaos Emeralds. Those two reliefs looked together like the shortest comic ever.

"Are this...hedgehogs?," Knuckles asked slowly, incredulously. Sonic blinked and looked at the pictures again. Really, those seven mobians looked, as if they had head quills... "Indeed they are. These seven legendary hedgehogs created once the Chaos Emeralds out of their own souls.," Kylie explained.

Sonic looked up. "Their souls? How?" "I have honestly no idea, nobody could find out, how they did that, yet, or how they even survived that. It is so far only rather safe to say, that they did indeed use their souls, there are several independent documentations from witnesses, that Alister had collected over years, and also legends about that, all of those always putting hedgehogs in the heroes' place."

"You think, that they survived without their souls?," Shadow asked. He didn't necessarily believe, that there was something like 'souls', but he could imagine nonetheless, that losing your soul wasn't exactly healthy.

"Look at this relief here." Kylie pointed at another picture. Knuckles' jaw dropped open, when he realized, what he saw there.

There were seven hedgehogs, the exact same ones as on the other two reliefs, Sonic realized, and numerous echidnas facing them. One of the hedgehogs seemed to balance the seven Chaos Emeralds, stapled on the bottom one on his right hand, apparently giving them to the echidnas, who already had their arms outstretched to receive them. And above them was a bigger stone – the Master Emerald.

"This can't be true! Why should the hedgehogs give the stones to the echidnas!?," the guardian raged.

So far, he – and pretty much everyone else – had assumed, that the Chaos Emeralds and the Master had been created by his people somehow, since they had protected them for so long. Why should they protect the treasure of someone else?

"Under this picture had been found a sentence in an old writing. It means, 'To repay our debt'. Since the echidnas made these reliefs, they apparently were the ones, who needed to make something up to the hedgehogs. And to do that, they were given the Emeralds. It was actually a great idea, to be honest. Echidnas are perfect guardians, they guarded their territories like no one in comparison. Most other species, also hedgehogs, didn't care that much about their territory, only about their colonies' members. They would have left the Chaos Emeralds behind without thinking about it.," Kylie replied.

She left out the part of numerous scientists suggesting, that the echidnas had almost died out because of this trait – fighting wasn't always an option, but fleeing wasn't one for echidnas at all. Fight or die, that was their way.

Sonic turned around to Knuckles to see his eyelid twitch...or rather spasm. He bit his tongue, so he wouldn't laugh at him. He still remembered, how the echidna had at first refused to leave Angel Island for even a second, after they had met and had wanted to do something with him, and how much of a fit he had had, when Sonic had for the time used – and more importantly, lost – the Chaos Emeralds. The pure idea of letting something as powerful simply fall in someone's hands, without putting up much of a fight, was giving him almost a heart attack.

Knuckles was quick to shove away the images Kylie's words had caused and to focus back on the present. "What did my people do?," he asked slowly.

"I have absolutely no idea. Neither the echidnas, nor the hedgehogs ever documented it, not even giving hints. I'm trying to research it, but it's a slow process. Whatever had happened, it had been about 3000 years ago, so reliable sources are rare."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. When he thought back to his childhood, to the very few memories he had about his father, he saw a – back then – huge, faceless echidna with gray stripes in his fur, standing next to him, in the light of the Master Emerald and he heard his dark, raspy voice, saying, "It is our kind's duty to protect the Emeralds, we can't ever let anything distract us.".

He also remembered, how he himself had asked carefully, "Why do we have to protect those stones?". The answer, "It's our duty, that's why.," had made perfectly sense to his three year old self.

By now, he had asked himself a million times already – before and after meeting Sonic and Tails – why he of all people had to do this.

After his father had disappeared and most likely died – he had never found his body, but with living on a flying island, there wasn't much fantasy necessary to imagine, why – he had seen guarding the stones as his sacred duty, inherited from his father, which had made him often proud.

But during storms, freezing cold winters or searing hot summers (he hadn't known for a long time, how he could move the island at will, so he had been a helpless play ball to the wind and weather) he would have loved to just jump off the stupid landmass and look for another home. But he had stayed.

Even though he now had enough friends to have the feeling, that he wouldn't be homeless for even a second, if he left Angel Island, he was still bound to this place. It seemed to be true, echidnas were perfect guardians, they would never leave, what they protected. "If you find some clues about this incident, tell me.," he eventually said, silently. "I will.," Kylie nodded.

"What did this Alister think he had found with that? These antique pictures meant nothing, they could have depict a fairy tale, if even!," Shadow argued, unintentionally giving Knuckles' brain a distraction.

"Alister was convinced, that it had to be important – the temple had been hidden, as I already said, and been protected by deathtraps, in that died several of his men. Neither he, nor I, were believing, that they did that for something of no importance. This temple was keeping a secret – and Alister managed to unveil at least a part of it. He managed to find a special, unique symbol in each of the depicted hedgehogs, that indicated their gender."

Sonic looked at the pictures again and found one dark spot in each painted hedgehog, that he had confused with shadows due to the light in the room the reliefs had been photographed in, or maybe even badly made belly buttons.

But upon closer inspection, they looked like small smudges, as if from mud being thrown at the relief, or something like that. However, they seemed to have a certain, repeating pattern, that looked like a rolled up snake, or maybe rather a tadpole, with the thick head going over in the short, bent in half tail. Also, all of those symbols were in their stomachs, never in another place.

"Mobians rarely used symbols to indicate the gender, since the people finding the pictures eras later would still know, who was portrayed, male, or female. I guess, it became only necessary, when the females looked barely different to the other sex.," Kylie rolled her eyes inwardly, while she said that, knowing full well, that this hadn't been a problem for humans at all, only because the females had been seen as housewives and mothers and nothing more and therefore didn't need to be portrayed.

"The symbols Alister found were compatible with other symbols he had previously found in other reliefs from the echidnas, but at first, he didn't understand, what he saw there. The hedgehogs were without a doubt male, yet, the symbols indicated, that they were carrying, like females.," she added.

"They were ukes.," Sonic understood. "Exactly. There didn't exist a term just then, but Alister, who had come to the same conclusion eventually, started immediately his research and found those terms, that he used from this day on."

"So seven ukes created the Chaos Emeralds. Why would this Alister still be interested in hedgehogs then? They had done the deed, so they weren't of any use anymore, or am I mistaken?," Rouge asked.

"You are mistaken, but I had thought that at first, too. It's hard to notice, looking at those pictures alone, but those seven Emeralds are depicted in a different size during their creation, than the ones in the relief, that shows, how the hedgehogs give them to the echidnas. There, they are smaller.," Kylie explained, pointing to the two pictures she meant.

All four mobians had the words 'over-sized Chaos Emeralds' suddenly in their minds upon hearing that.

"How?," Knuckles asked the question, that went around his head since Shy's strange explanation. "I have absolutely no idea, but it is only logical to assume, that the hedgehogs, who created them, have something to do with that. That means, that they most likely separated a part of the original Chaos Emeralds somehow, and, according to Alister Perringten, absorbed those again. It's a logical thought process, if you ask me, since there are only 7 and not 14 Chaos Emeralds, or seven as powerful objects somewhere – and believe me, Alister checked this thoroughly.

It's impossible to say, when or why the hedgehogs separated the Chaos Emeralds into two, or why they left out the Master Emerald, but it is quite safe to say, that no one else could have done this, just them as the creators. And as they were ukes, it was quite logical, that they gave these special energies they reabsorbed to their young, just like their abilities – together with the fur color, that apparently always depicted the matching Chaos Emerald."

"Because they were ukes?," Sonic repeated, confused. He believed that with the fur – his had always looked like the darker blue Chaos Emerald when it glowed, but he had never assumed, that it had a meaning.

"Sonic, ukes and females carry their young for months inside them. It's impossible for the babies to NOT inherit a lot from the mother, that goes beyond the DNA alone.," Kylie explained.

Sonic blinked. "...Oh...," he muttered, although he was not really getting, what she meant. In fact, he had not the slightest clue, what she meant.

"Let me get this straight then: this Alister thought, that out there were seven hedgehogs with half an Emerald in them each? Did he want to bring them together with the Chaos Emeralds and rule the world?," the blue hero rather asked. Alister and Eggman would have been great friends, they had apparently the same screws loose.

"Exactly, yes. Many humans back then had been arrogant enough to think, that mobians were only slightly more intelligent animals, and just needed the right 'training' to obey the humans. Don't forget, that mobians have only since about 1000 years the status of equals to humans. Before, you had been seen as animals mostly.

Anyway, Alister was obsessed with finding out about those seven hedgehogs' whereabouts until the day he died. In his last will, he gave the task to his only son, promising him the other half of his wealth, that apparently a never named trusted person kept hidden and would give to him, should he succeed in finding and controlling them. Since greed had always been a weakness of the Perringtens, his son did, what his father had asked of him and gave the task to his own son, when his time had come and so on."

"So the Island-mess is just the result out of inherited obsession based on a few slabs of stone?," Rouge asked with a raised brow.

Kylie shook her head. "That's not all, no. You can already guess, that this weird family tradition of the Perringtens will end with John, however, it would have already ended a generation earlier. The reason for Jester Perringten to walk the same way as so many ancestors of his had already, for leaving the shadows, in that his family had operated for centuries, and risking all they had worked for with an institution like the Island, had been love."

* * *

It became silent, while the four mobians tried to process her words. This monster – and love!?

Seeing, that her friends were quite overwhelmed by what she had just told them, Kylie went to explain the sad and twisted story of Jester Perringten:

"Jester Perringten grew up like pretty much every rich child – neglected by his parents. Unlike his two slightly older sisters, who were triplets with him and who were spoiled rotten by their mother, he was barely spoken to, or even greeted. Since Jester was rather introverted, he didn't mind too much, that his only friend and contact had been the family butler Damius. His father, Jared Perringten, had always worked, since Jester could remember and his mother, Melanie, had always tried to gain her husbands attention, if only for a second, but was usually denied. What of attention she was denied, she gave to her daughters, Jessie and Jazmin. And Jester usually just sat in the kitchen with Damius, spending his days there.

One day, everything changed, when the 15-year old Jester Perringten came home from school to hear, that his whole family had died in a terrible fire in one of their beach houses. As the police quickly found out, Melanie had lured her husband and daughters there to kill them and then burned herself alive in the house, together with the bodies."

Earning shocked stares and gasps, Kylie continued, "In a letter, that Melanie had deposited in her desk at their regular home, before she had done this, she had justified her doing by saying, that Jared had punished her for years with denying her attention because of Jester.

In fact, several witnesses explained later, that Jared had become cold as ice the second he had learned of the third child's sex. Before, he had been loving and attentive, had cared for his pregnant wife like others would for their sick children, had declared his love to her after every ultrasound, just because the doctor had assumed, that there were three girls growing. This happens from time to time, sometimes, the children are turned away during the ultrasound and the doctors can only guess the sex by the general stature. And Jester had been always rather delicate.

Learning, that he had a male descendant meant for Jared, that one day, Jester would inherit the chance to earn the money Alister had once promised, to rule the world and to win the age-old bet – and that probably without even trying, just by using his father's hard researched results. Since Jared had always been someone, who got, what he wanted, he had thrown himself into work, before the triplets had even left the hospital, to beat his own, clueless son.

In the process of his hard work, he left Melanie behind, who couldn't understand his changed attitude towards her. She rather quickly connected the dots to realize, that the thought of having three daughters had never upset Jared, until one of the girls had turned out to be male. She avoided and ignored Jester in hopes of getting back in Jared's good graces, but since the Perringtens tended to see females as mere tools to create a new heir of their task, Jared had ignored her from this day on, she had done her part in his opinion. I guess, he even started to hate her for giving him a son, before he had been ready for one.

Melanie, who had really loved Jared, couldn't stand the sudden distance and finally snapped, which caused her to kill almost her whole family. Since Jared hadn't known of his untimely death, he hadn't even prepared a letter or note for Jester to know of his 'heritage' and for a few years it seemed, as if the obsession of the Perringtens would end exactly there.

Damius, the butler, adopted Jester, so nothing much would change for him and until he went to university, his life was a quiet and modest one. Although he had billions to spend, he barely bought himself a bar of chocolate, when he didn't need it desperately.

During his first day on his elite university then, he met _her_, Joanna. She hadn't been rich, which would have been necessary for her to attend this certain university, but she had been so talented, that she had gotten a scholarship. Joanna had been a confident, friendly and beautiful young woman, for whom Jester fell on first sight. And she apparently fell, too, because she agreed to date him, when he asked."

"How do you know all of those details?," Knuckles asked, crept out by her detailed knowledge, that let it sound, as if she was knowing his family.

"I read all of Jester's diaries – with John's permission, of course. He himself couldn't stand it, to be so close to his father again, but I was curious.

Anyway, for a few months, Jester and Joanna were on cloud 9, until one day, Joanna collapsed out of nowhere, blood streaming out of her ears, eyes, nose and mouth without an outer reason. As the young couple had to learn, Joanna was sick. She had a rare disease, that not even a handful other people had. An illness, that would cause her a huge amount of pain in the close future – and a far too early death. Her body was slowly dying, the cells stopping to function one by one. There was no cure known to stop this process, only to slow it down a bit.

She needed to cancel her studying and to take great amounts of painkillers to survive the days and nights. At one point in the close future, she would have been confined to a hospital bed, because her body would fail her and then she would need help with breathing and keeping her heartbeat up. Not to mention, that her limbs would be the first things to decay and one day needed to be amputated. All in all, their careless times were over, they had stepped right into hell.

Jester, feeling desperate for the first time in his life, canceled his studying as well and traveled the whole world, he paid dozens of doctors to find a cure, to save Joanna, but to no avail.

During those three painful years, when he went from doctor to doctor, from an 'I can't help her, I'm sorry' to the next, he learned two valuable lessons: One, not everything could be bought with money and two, people do everything you want, when you put the right amount of money in their hands.

He was desperate, so desperate, that he, in a fit of blind rage, destroyed several rooms in the mansion he lived in. This way, he accidentally found Jared's secret, the secret room, in that the Perringtens kept all of their research results. He quickly understood, what he had found there and, that he could use it to hopefully save Joanna and like his father before, he spent most of his days with researching and only one each week with her, hellbent on saving her life.

Then, however, Joanna did something, that Jester could never forgive her. She became pregnant."

"What was wrong with that?," Sonic asked, confused. "Pregnancy always puts a strain on the body. For healthy people, it's little to nothing, they are back on their feet in no time after giving birth, for very ill people, however, it's a strain, that usually causes the illness to get worse. Not to mention, that it was pure luck, that John didn't contract the same disease from his mother.

With her pregnancy, Joanna had shortened her life dramatically, the doctors gave her after the birth only a few more years at best, far less, than she had had before.

Jester saw this as betrayal, he had thought, that Joanna had egoistically shortened their time together by keeping silent about not taking contraceptives, just to become a mother, which had been always a dream of her. He saw his only son as Joanna's murderer and couldn't feel anything, but hatred towards him."

"Wait, if I got that correctly, Jester Perringten had been in his forties, when he built the Island, but from what I heard, he looked far older!," Rouge asked, astounded. She had never met the man face to face, but Shadow had been really descriptive, so she had a certain picture of him in her head.

"The Perringtens had tried a lot to understand the hedgehogs' secret, one of them even tried to create pseudo-Chaos Emeralds, just to understand, how they got created, so he could maybe repeat the process. I don't know, what exactly he did, but he managed to create indeed seven crystals, that had, however, no Chaos Energy in them. Since he failed, the Perringten in question had destroyed all descriptions of how he did that. The stones, however, still remained until now and the energy they gave out wasn't exactly healthy.

They caused Jester – and many others before him – to lose more and more of their life force the longer they stayed in their vicinity, which caused them to age far faster than normal. That's why Jester looked with less than 50 years like 80, or even 90. I'm pretty sure, that you, Fleetway and Mephiles don't like to hear it, but with killing Jester, you only sped up, what would have happened in mere months anyway.," Kylie told Shadow, turning to him.

The seme sneered angrily. He would have loved to take more of his life away. Now, he almost wished he would be revived by one of Mephiles' people, just so he could kill him again.

"What happened to those stones?," Sonic asked, not liking, that they could possibly still be here, close to countless innocents.

"Mephiles took them to safety...or well, that was, what he told me. He looked rather excited to have them.," Kylie explained, leaving out the part, where Mephiles had cleaned her and John off the negative energy, which had felt, as if he had poured something oily on them – and it had taken them a few days to get rid of the feeling.

"Did he really think, that he could save his mate with that?," Knuckles asked with a raised brow. He knew from a description he had found once, that it was possible to revive the dead with the Chaos Emeralds – when the death had been recent.

If his math was correct, then Perringten had waited more than 10 years after Joanna's death, until he had started the Island-project and that would have been far too late for the Chaos Emeralds, that could guide a lost soul back to the body not later than a month after death – given, that the body wasn't decayed at all, AND, that the death hadn't been natural. It was hard to say, if a disease counted as 'natural'. Even if it didn't, it would have been too late anyway to revive her. Although...it would have been too late for the regular Chaos Emeralds. For the over-sized ones, it was maybe possible...

"He was absolutely convinced and determined. Trying to find a cure for Joanna fruitlessly for so long had driven Jester slowly but surely into insanity and it got only worse, when Joanna had died four years after John's birth. It's almost ironic, but thanks to the pregnancy, her disease worked differently to some parts so, that she could keep her limbs.

Jester stole her body from the graveyard and hid it in a secret lair, frozen, so he could revive it one day. He had actually believed, that he had been pretty close to his goal, shortly, before it all ended."

"Why? As far as I remember, he had only three of seven hedgehogs!," Sonic pointed out. Had there somewhere been the other four?

"True, but the two hedgehogs he needed were there, meaning you and Scourge.," Kylie replied.

Sonic frowned. He had already assumed, that he had been one of those two – but why Scourge?

Kylie seemed to guess his train of thought, because she went to explain, "One of Jester's ancestors kinda stole a few figurines off Angel Island once..."

"WHAT!?," Knuckles all but screamed, interrupting her. "Well, aviation did already exist, so...yeah...," Kylie ended lamely.

"And what did the guardian do in the meantime?," the echidna asked with a growl. "Well, I guess, that he did nothing – the ancestor of Perringten had sent experts, who stole it, before he noticed it. If it's any consolation, I think, that the guardian had been pretty inexperienced.," Kylie soothed.

Knuckles grumbled almost inaudibly, knowing, that _inexperience _hadn't been the reason. Being in the clouds had given most guardians a sense of false security – they had become lazy.

He would never admit it openly, but he had been on the verge of becoming such a guardian, too – just before Eggman, and a little later Sonic and Tails, had landed on his island. This little incident had been enough to remind him, that slacking wasn't an option.

"As I was trying to say, those figurines are out of wood and depict the seven legendary hedgehogs. Although their colors had been withered by time, Jester's ancestor managed to find microscopic traces of the flowers and herbs, that had been used to paint them and could therefore say, which figurine belonged to which hedgehog and, which powers had been associated with them...or better, with the Chaos powers in them."

"You mean, something else, than my speed?," Sonic asked with a raised brow. Kylie nodded. "Yes. What you think you have as powers is nothing in comparison to what you could do, if you were aware of it.

That's the way for all Alphas and Betas in this world and also for quite a few Gammas, but unlike those seven hedgehogs, they just have a stronger form of their usual powers. These power boosts are sealed and are only meant as a last resource, a last way out, meant for dire emergencies only. Once this seal is broken, the mobian has free access to these powers – and usually full control.

So yes, there are other abilities slumbering under this blue fur.," Kylie summed it up, earning an odd look from Shadow, who was apparently contemplating, if she had just tried to flirt with his mate.

"So, which powers had Perringten been interested in?," Sonic asked, unaware of the silent exchange of his boyfriend and friend.

Kylie averted her eyes from Shadow and opened her drawer, pulling out a wooden figurine, about as long as her hand. "This here is the figurine of the green furred uke."

"Is there anything you don't have in your desk?," Sonic asked, grinning, and took the figurine from her, to examine it closer. He felt Rouge and Knuckles looking over his shoulder, from that Shadow already had a great view.

The figurine depicted a male hedgehog with long, flowing quills, that looked, as if they were pushed to the side by a stronger breeze. He held out both hands, as if he wanted the viewer to take, what he had there. In his left hand was something like a small amount of dirt, out of that peeked a plant with two leaves, like all plants had, that had just left their seeds and the earth they had been planted in. In his other hand was a round object, like a crystal ball, in that had been carved something, that had a chubby body and short, also chubby limbs. A thin line led from its middle away, seemingly deeper into the ball, ending nowhere.

"What's this thing in the ball?," he couldn't help, but ask. "That's an embryo." "Er..." "A still developing baby, long before it's born. This ball is meant to be a womb.," Kylie explained.

"Interesting. How did they even know, how an embryo looked like? They didn't have an ultrasound, did they?," Rouge wondered, admiring the details of the wooden womb's 'decoration'.

"Who knows? Maybe the artist had witnessed an early birth, or a stillbirth. Or the egg shells of echidna-eggs have a thin enough texture, that allowed an x-ray by holding it up in the sun.

Anyway, this is the God of Fertility. According to legend, he can revive the dead and decide, if someone becomes fertile, or barren."

"And that's Scourge?," Shadow asked with a raised brow. Although murder hadn't been one of Scourge's crimes, yet, life and fertility were two of the last words he would EVER connect with him.

"Yes. In fact, Scourge has already figured out, how he can turn himself barren." "He did?," Sonic asked, surprised. "Well, Perringten had a hard time with getting him pregnant – and it wasn't because of the lack of tries. Ukes are usually very fertile, so it was rather obvious, that there was something wrong. Starting from Scourge, Perringten managed to identify you and Silver as two more descendants of the legendary hedgehogs.," Kylie explained.

"Ah." Feeling a lot more questions come up, Sonic decided for the most important one, "So, how does my figurine look like?"

The human woman averted her eyes and started to play with her hair, displaying her nervousness. "That's...a little complicated, I'm afraid."

"Why?" "Don't get a shock, okay?," Kylie replied and fished something out of her drawer, showing it to the mobians.

Sonic gasped. In her hand was the figurine of a hedgehog with short head quills. Its arms were outstretched to the side, at least, that's what he presumed – both its arms has been broken off close to the shoulders. "Who did that?," Shadow asked with a dark voice. This looked pretty much like a doing out of hatred and he intended to gather as much information as possible about the person responsible.

"The echidnas, I guess, since the Perringten had found it like that and it is unharmed otherwise."

Really, the figurine looked – besides this little fact – great. If it had lost its arms by accident, it would have scratches, dents or something like that on its wood.

"But why?," Sonic asked, leaning forwards to take the piece of wood to look at it closer, like with the first, that he placed on the desk in the meantime.

"My guess is, that the echidnas and hedgehogs both agreed to keep the abilities of the Alpha a secret. Well, two of them, that is. The third had been detected."

"Really? Where?," Sonic asked, turning the figurine in all directions, trying to find, what she meant, but he came up empty-handed.

"Hold on." At once, Knuckles grabbed the wooden figure out of his brother-like friend's hands and turned its back to him, so that he could see it. "Is that meant seriously!?," he asked, looking at Kylie.

He held the figurine low enough for Sonic to see something carved into the back, that he had held at first for pattern to imitate back quills. Now, it rather looked like some kind of letters, that he had never seen before, though.

"Why? Does this word mean something to you?," Kylie asked curiously. "Of course. It pretty much labels this uke here as God of Everything. It even puts Chaos, who is seen as the origin of all life and deities, on the second place.," Knuckles mumbled, thoughtfully. "That's amazing! How do you know that? The Perringtens – and me – tried forever to find something out about this language and the meaning of those words!," Kylie gaped.

"I'm not surprised, this is the language of echidna Guardians. Only the guardians and their apprentices were allowed to learn it. I learned it, when I was five – I would recognize it everywhere."

"Why did the guardians have their own language?," Sonic asked with a cocked to the side head.

This was the first time he had heard of that, but he wasn't surprised: Knuckles wasn't exactly someone, who happily talked about his kind, unlike so many mobians liked to do it, especially about their strengths.

"Distrust, I guess. They didn't want to share their secrets with anyone else." "The names on the figurines are secrets? Why?," Kylie wondered.

"One of the lessons you have to learn as a guardian is, that knowledge in the wrong hands can become a catastrophe. It's better to have too many secrets, than to have too less.," Knuckles replied and it sounded, as if he was reciting something he had once learned.

"I see. Of course, that makes sense. Would it be too much to ask you to translate the other five?," Kylie asked carefully.

"I can try. Is it right to assume, that you only guessed so far?" "Yeah. And I have honestly no better ideas, than the Perringtens had over time.," Kylie replied, rummaging through the drawer and pulling out the remaining five figurines, placing them in front of her and looking on them in concentration.

"Here, that's the silver-white one.," Kylie explained, giving him one of a hedgehog, that had a similar quill style to Silver, but there were just four quills – and they were far shorter, looking more like a crown.

He performed a slight bow at the waist and held his hands with the hand plate up next to his body, an arc out of the same wood leading from one hand over the hedgehog's head to the other.

Sonic was close enough to see different shapes carved in the arc – tiny people, animals and trees, but all looking, as if they were caught in a tornado, thrown around in it.

"Hm..." Knuckles looked in concentration at the carved word. "That's a tough one. Basically, it means 'God of Destruction', but I can think of at least three other worlds to formulate 'Destruction' – and this one wouldn't be among them. It's too soft."

"Too soft?," Kylie repeated, confused. "Yeah, you would use this, when someone breaks an insignificant plate, for example. That's not, what I would have used to describe someone, who can destroy the world."

"Hm... does this really indicate the whole world, though?," Kylie asked. "What do you mean?," Knuckles asked, looking up.

"Maybe...it means a colony. This might mean, that this uke could destroy a colony, not the whole world.," Kylie suggested.

Knuckles looked down on the figurine. "It still doesn't seem right. I can try to research the exact meaning of the word, I still have a few books hidden in the temple."

"Of course, and you can of course take the figurines, they belong rightfully to you. Here, that is the cyan colored one."

Kylie gave him the figurine of a hedgehog with medium long head quills, who stood straight and held out his right hand, all fingers spread apart, as if he wanted to stop a driving car. His left hand hung simply down next to his body. Unlike the others so far, there was no object or decoration added.

Knuckles frowned at the figurine's back for a few minutes. "This means: God of Immortality and Invincibility.," he finally declared.

Shadow raised a brow and looked at the figurine. "Doesn't look like me.," he grumbled, earning a soft jab in the side from Sonic. "Don't disturb him, I want to hear that!," he hissed under his breath, continuing to listen with interest.

Taking the next one, the formerly red painted figurine, Knuckles frowned at it, before taking the one of the green hedgehog and holding its back next to the other one.

"Strange, both words mean 'life', but there seems to be a difference... Guess, I need to research that, too."

He carefully put the figurines down, lining them up at the edge of Kylie's desk, before taking the next one, that had been, according to Kylie, purple once.

The hedgehog, with quills, that reached his heels, balanced what looked like an egg on his right hand and a small skull on his left hand. Knuckles looked at the figurine for a long while, before he shook his head. "No chance. I recognize the words, but I don't remember the meaning.," he gave up and took the last one, that had to be the yellow one.

Unlike almost all the other hedgehogs before, this one didn't stand straight, but bent over, had his arms raised and his fingertips pointed downwards. He looked like a marionette player, without the strings and puppet. "This could mean...God of Control, but I'm not sure.," Knuckles explained and placed the figurine to its brothers. "Thanks for trying. Tell me, when you find something else out.," Kylie smiled. Knuckles nodded and he and Rouge returned to their seats.

"So, what is this 'third power' on my figurine you mentioned before?," Sonic asked the question, that had bothered him for a while now.

"On this figurine's stomach had been found traces of the other colors used for the figurines, but only on this one, situated as some kind of belt around his complete waist. The Perringtens and I assume, that it means, that you as the Alpha have the power to copy the powers of the others."

Sonic grimaced. "I prefer my speed.," he declared, as if he was declining an offer. "Nobody said, that you have to – it's just something you are _probably _able to do.," Kylie grinned soothingly.

"Was this the reason, why Perringten was after Scourge and me the most?," the blue hero asked. The human nodded. "Then why didn't he just show us the woman and somehow tried to force us to revive her, instead of keeping us locked up and trying to get our semes to rape us?," Sonic asked confused.

Kylie sighed. "Two reasons. One, you can only activate these powers, when you feel completely cornered – and this can backfire quickly – and two, shortly before you three got locked up in this cell with the cushions, there happened something, that let Jester lose the last remains of his sanity. The machine, that kept Joanna's body frozen, malfunctioned and broke. And since nobody was constantly there and the surroundings had been warm and humid, her flesh decayed quickly and by the time he had sent someone to check on her body, it had been already too late, she had been too far gone, it was impossible for the Chaos Emeralds to do anything now."

"Then why didn't he just let us go?," Rouge asked. "He had gone too far already, he couldn't go back – and after he had slipped into insanity completely, he just wanted to destroy the world, to punish it for taking his wife away from him – and if I got his last entries right, he wanted to build a new world with your help, one, in that no illnesses exist. And he had already three hedgehogs, with that he could succeed...well, six, if you count the semes in."

"I still don't get, why he wanted us pregnant so badly.," Sonic muttered, more to himself, than to Kylie, but she answered anyway.

"Jester had two plans. For one, your offspring would have inherited the Chaos Energy and if he took the pups early enough, he could raise them as his little private army."

Sonic jumped, when he heard a feral growl suddenly behind him, that sounded, as if he sat on the lap of a lion, and not his boyfriend's. He turned halfway around to see Shadow's eyes only slits, the red looking pretty much ablaze.

"Shadow, I was kidding.," he heard Kylie say and as if a switch had been flipped, he calmed down completely at once.

Looking over to Kylie, Sonic saw her smiling at him. "Don't worry, I expected that. All semes react like that, when you picture them a possible fate for their young. The fierceness of his reaction actually indicates, that he'll be a good and protective – maybe a little overprotective at times – father one day." Sonic just nodded, while Shadow huffed and nuzzled Sonic in apology for scaring him.

"Jester's Plan B had been to use your mother instinct against you." "My mother instinct?," Sonic repeated confused. "Yeah. A mother would do everything for his or her young."

Seeing the metaphorical question marks over the blue furred male's head, Kylie thought about a way to explain it differently. "Okay, imagine, that Eggman had kidnapped Tails."

"My buddy would greet me at the front door, because there is no way, that Eggman could keep him contained for longer than two seconds.," Sonic smirked, barely letting Kylie end, before he answered.

Kylie facepalmed. "Why am I not surprised?," she muttered, before looking at him again. "Imagine, that Tails got kidnapped by Eggman and has NO way of escaping himself. What would you do?," she rephrased her question.

Sonic shrugged. "Infiltrate his current base, destroy his robots, search the base, free Tails, destroy the base, and eat a chilidog at home to celebrate.," he listed easily. "Would you jump heedlessly into danger?" "If necessary."

Knuckles behind him rolled his eyes. 'Necessary' had a broad spectrum, but it was rather slim in Sonic's case – the idiot jumped into pretty much every danger, if it was necessary in his book, or not.

"Despite your worry for Tails, you would still keep it cool, right?" "I guess so. It wouldn't be my first fight with Eggman and when Tails would just be bored, not injured or ill, or anything, then I don't need to panic, or worry.," Sonic replied thoughtfully. Tails was too clever to fall into Eggman's hands just like that, so thinking about it in a 'what if'-scenario was rather difficult.

"The way you just pictured for me diverts COMPLETELY from how you would act, if it was one of your pups in Eggman's claws. You would immediately ask, what he wants from you and do then exactly that."

Sonic blinked at her, confusion written all over his face. "...Why? What's the difference between a pup of mine and Tails? He's my little bro!," he argued.

"Even if he was your twin brother, nobody could ever mean as much to you, as your young. You probably can't understand this, yet, but carrying those little ones under your heart for months, to be the first one they love, to have them completely dependent on you for a while, to see them grow out from under your protective wing, is an absolutely unique feeling, that you can't replace. You would do anything to protect those little ones, no matter, how old they are."

"Are you implying, that we need to watch those brats, until they are fully matured, unless we want to risk him losing to Eggman – or someone else for that matter?," Knuckles asked, flabbergasted.

Kylie grinned at him. "No. Don't worry, it's not as bad. It's true, that Sonic's mother instinct will always try to conquer his mind, but he has reason, too – and will always try to find another way, besides submission. And if he doesn't see a way out, that's not too bad. You obviously forget, that there are always two parents, not just one. And semes are wired differently, than ukes. Although they would never endanger their young, they don't submit easily – if at all. If Eggman ever got one finger on one of Shadow's young, he'd lose his whole arm. So don't worry, the two will be just fine."

Sonic sighed silently in relief and leaned back. He had actually become quite worried by Kylie's words, but her explanation had calmed him down again. There was no way, that Shadow would let Eggman – or someone else for that matter – have power over his mate.

"Speaking of the plans of humans – what was with this strange experiment, that Perringten put us through? Why did Silver and Mephiles just sleep, and why did Sonic get sick?," Shadow asked, taking a chance to finally understand this as one of the last riddles concerning this horrible place, but not talking about Scourge's traumatic experience in front of the others, which got him a reward in the form of Sonic nuzzling him lovingly.

"I didn't understand this at first, too. Apparently, Perringten let Stance give you different concentrations of the drug. In your case, Sonic, it was a small dose of a drug based on Shadow's blood."

Sonic blinked. "Why did I get sick because of Shadow?," the hedgehog asked, confused. "The concentration was the problem. It was high enough for your body to register, that there is something, but not strong enough to identify it. The result: it saw the drugs as a threat and tried to remove them."

"And Silver?" "The drug was based on Mephiles' blood and had a medium concentration, it gave them both the feeling of safety. For Silver, it was like taking a sleeping pill – and since Mephiles hadn't slept in days and the room smelt like him only, without any disturbances, his instincts urged him to rest while he could. In Scourge's case, they got Fleetway's drug in the highest concentration possible, it forced him into submission and well, you know the rest." Sonic nodded in thought.

"What I still don't understand – how did the Perringtens keep the uke-thing a secret all this time? There had to be some pregnant ukes over the last 2000 years, didn't this become public?," Rouge rephrased her question from earlier.

Kylie stared at her, before sighing and leaning back. "This were other times, Rouge. If there was a male pregnant, he had to fear to be closed out by society, so most kept it a secret, just like their ancestors had. Some could depend on their fathers, that were in reality their mothers in secret, to help them, others were so scared of rejection by everyone, that they let dubious 'doctors' perform abortions, which most of the time ended deadly, or turned them barren.

As for why it never became public – the Perringtens had a lot of influence. If you wanted to publish the smallest article, they had to allow that. They had hundreds of people all over the world scanning every little article manually for the information of pregnant males. If they found such, the current Perringten would be informed and the person wanting to publish it as well as his or her sources – literature or a living creature alike – searched out and the future publishers bribed to keep their mouths shut. If they refused, they would 'die in an accident' the day after."

"They killed them?" "And those, who investigated too much. The Perringtens had enough men under them, who would commit a genocide for the right price. The pregnant hedgehogs disappeared 'mysteriously' the same day to who-knew-where."

"Then what about this radio report, that started this whole mess?," Knuckles wondered. "Without it, we wouldn't have been in this trouble to begin with!"

"Well, this system of informing them about everything going on in the world, that the Perringtens had integrated, stopped with Jared's death. He had instructed his men to not inform Jester, under any circumstances. Since he never took that back – and the monthly payments still came – everyone kept their mouths shut.

Therefore, Jester heard very late about this scientist, who had found something out about ukes in an old temple – probably from the echidnas. It was Bryan, who hoped for an extra payment, who told him. He found the scientist and just killed him, but then he realized, that the man had already hinted in the radio, that he had an important 'announcement concerning hedgehogs'."

Sonic remembered faintly, that this had been the reason, why Tails had been so keen on listening to this report. There had been probably much more people interested in this report, so just pretending, as if they misunderstood something hadn't been an option – and telling them, that the man had died, would have spread rumors and probably led someone else to the truth. In a twisted way, Jester's plan had been the best bet.

"To prevent the people from getting suspicious, Jester pretended to be the scientist and used the report to lure people into his Uke Institute."

"But why? Why did he capture all of those hedgehogs, when he was only after seven?," Sonic asked, trembling a bit, which let Shadow hug him a little tighter in comfort. He had seen almost the same hell as Sonic, so he could understand his feelings. There had been so many hedgehogs, who could have been spared from all the suffering.

"Well, Jester had a problem there." Kylie pulled out something, that looked like a big, less handy version of Tails' Miles Electric, a screen surrounded by lots of buttons.

"This is the machine, that Jared had built to try and find the seven hedgehogs. It is meant to pick up on your unique Chaos Energy and to alert him, when he would be close to you. It has a scale of green, yellow and red for on the point of, close to and away from the goal. Although Jester looked up and down all of Mobius, he only found three hedgehogs, meaning you, who were in the green sector of the scale. Most were in the red part and only a good quarter in the yellow sector.

Jester thought, that the remaining four had just not been born, so he kidnapped the hedgehogs, that were in the yellow sector and forced them to breed to hopefully get a pup, whose blood test would cause a reaction. Newborns don't give out Chaos Energy until a few weeks after their birth, it can be detected in a drop of their blood, though.," she explained right away, seeing the question in Sonic's eyes.

"Did this actually work?," Rouge asked confused. "No. You can't breed Chaos Powers, but Jester's mind had been too far gone to realize this."

"Then why didn't he find those four? What do Sonic and the other two have, that the other four don't?," Shadow asked, diverting his attention between Kylie and Sonic, who was suddenly tense.

"My guess is, that the three somehow managed to lose the seals over their Chaos Powers without breaking them, so that they constantly give out a small amount of this strong Chaos Energy."

Knuckles frowned. "Now, that you mention it, a while after I met Sonic and Tails, maybe a year or two, Sonic's Chaos Energy seemed suddenly stronger than usual to me, when they visited me. I'm used to it by now.," he mused.

"Really? Sonic, do you remember anything out of the ordinary around- Sonic?," Kylie interrupted herself, when she noticed her friend's strange posture.

He trembled worse now, a shadow over his face. "What happened to the pups?," the hedgehog asked, sounding thoughtful, his glare gone off the side, as if he was looking at something, but besides the room's corner, there was nothing interesting.

The other three looked at Kylie, who was rather pale now and looked down on her lap, where her hands seemed to rest. "Please don't ask me that.," she whispered with a trembling voice.

Sonic's ear twitched and he looked up and at her. "Why?," he asked, confused. "Some questions are better left unanswered.," Kylie mumbled, looking away and brushing her hair back, her hands shaking in the process.

"But I want to know.," Sonic insisted. "Why is Hope the only pup from the Island? What is with the others?"

"You want to know? Fine. Don't tell me, that I didn't warn you.," Kylie grumbled and bent to the side.

Sonic expected her to pull something out of her drawer again, but instead, she placed something on the desk, that looked like her plastic dustbin. Confused, Sonic looked at her, but Kylie kept her gaze downwards.

_**WARNING!**_

"Remember number 300?," she started, her voice void of any emotion. Not waiting for an answer, she already continued, "He was an artificial creature, created out of organic material, that the nanobots torturing me, John and all other employees during his fight formed to cells. And he got the organic material by cutting everyone he saw as useless in tiny pieces, until they were a fluid. That included dead employees, ukes, semes – and the pups, that didn't have his desired Chaos Energy signature."

_**END OF WARNING!**_

Now Sonic knew, what the purpose of the dustbin was. Kylie hadn't even ended, when he had already jumped out of Shadow's arms, grabbed the container and emptied his stomach content in it. She had been right, some questions were better unanswered.

Calming down after a few minutes, the hero looked up to see, that the others weren't better off.

Rouge had a green hue in her face, Knuckles had lost all color and Shadow was staring into space, obviously fighting to collect himself. Sonic definitely didn't blame the seme for being this upset.

Feeling a little better, he lowered the dustbin next to the desk, made a quick run to the only bathroom he knew, to wash out his mouth, return and to stumble over to his chair to sit on it next to his boyfriend, so that he could calm down in peace.

"I'm sorry I asked.," he eventually mumbled, which at least woke Shadow up. He was quick to pull his boyfriend on his lap, hugging him to comfort him, which worked, if Sonic's weak chuckle and grateful nuzzling was anything to go by.

"I'm not sure, if I want to know, what this monster had in store for us.," Rouge mumbled, her voice a little shaky, her posture tense.

"I don't think, that he would have killed you.," Kylie replied, her own voice rather quiet, as if she didn't want to startle someone.

"You were valuable for him. You, because he knew of your connection to Shadow, Amy and Tails because of their importance for Sonic, Blaze for Silver's feelings for her and Knuckles, because he's an echidna, who could answer probably some questions Perringten had. He wouldn't have killed you, at least not anytime soon."

"And what about the other hedgehogs' relatives? Don't tell me, that we forgot them in the Uke Institute.," Rouge asked, having calmed down, thanks to the change of topic.

The boys were also listening in their talk, using it to distract themselves from the terrifying truth.

"We didn't. There weren't any, besides you. Most of the hedgehogs had been homeless, like Silver and Scourge, and had no relatives. And only the fewest of them had similar strong protective feelings towards someone else, as Blaze has towards Silver. Those, who had actually family, were either declared dead by a paid doctor after a staged accident, or the relatives themselves were paid – which thankfully didn't work this often, it gives me hope for the peoples' sanity and honor. For some, it was enough to tell them, that their relatives were ukes, even when they were semes, to have the family cut all contacts. When you five arrived, Bryan could imagine, that you wouldn't give up this fast, so locking you up had been the best alternative to that time." The mobians nodded in thought.

"Sonic, do you remember something out of the ordinary around the time Knuckles mentioned?," Kylie asked, hoping to not upset Sonic's stomach again.

"Hm..." Sonic had heard the question, of course, he just had had other things in mind, so he needed to think a bit.

Eventually, he shrugged. "No, nothing. We hadn't visited Knux in a while, which wasn't so unusual, and during this time, we had saved the world a few times from Eggman, I had some spontaneous solo-missions..."

"'Spontaneous solo-missions'?," Kylie repeated confused. "Yeah, you know, when I see someone needing help during one of my runs. Fires with people still in the buildings, thieves in the act, parents calling for their just lost children, kittens in trees – something like that." Sonic shrugged. It was no big deal, really. With his speed, things like these took less time than retying shoes. "There was definitely nothing different, not at all.," he ended his report.

"Hm, that doesn't help us solve this mystery. From what I know, you and Scourge never met – and Silver never left that side alley, before he got kidnapped. I just can't imagine a single thing, that you three have in common, that might cause you to loose those seals of yours. I don't get, what might have happened."

"Maybe this strange Energy-finder is broken. I could show it to Tails, he'll probably know, what it does in detail in a mere second.," Sonic suggested, already imagining Tails' happy face upon a quick challenge.

Kylie grimaced. "I don't know, Sonic.," she replied. "This thing here is pretty good secured and I'm sure, that it was Jester's doing, not Jared's. Not even Jester's usual password works, he has protected it with a different one. When John tried it, it actually gave him an electric shock."

"Usual password?" "All important rooms and files on the Island had been protected by the same password, the date, when Jester and Joanna first met."

"Then my little buddy might need half an hour more.," Sonic shrugged. Kylie rolled her eyes.

"Fine, take it – but warn Tails, before you give it to him.," she grumbled, pushing the thing towards the figurines, so Sonic could easily reach it.

"Now, is there anything else you two wanted to ask? Otherwise, I would like to talk with Sonic and Shadow alone about some private things.," she continued towards Knuckles and Rouge.

Shadow tensed a little hearing that. She didn't want to talk about Sonic's immortality, did she!? Only the woman knew about this fact...

"Actually, I do have a question. I...just don't want to talk in front of everyone.," Knuckles explained reluctantly.

"Why? We're friends!," Sonic argued, turning to him, but Knuckles' expression was as usual unreadable. It was his 'Don't ask me, I won't answer'-face, so Sonic didn't even try. He had tried it often enough in the past.

"That's no problem. Mephiles!," Kylie called. Said male appeared easily in the middle of the room.

"Agent Shadow isn't even a whole day here and you are already calling me like a dog.," he complained, although he seemed to tease...in his very own, strange way.

Kylie chuckled, seeming to understand the comment as mere teasing as well. "Sorry, I'll let you back to Silver in a minute. Would you create one of those soundproof rooms around me and Knuckles?"

"If that's all.," the dark being shrugged and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a kind of gray curtain, from the ceiling to the ground, surrounded Kylie and her desk, distorting their features.

"Echidna, are you stupid?," Mephiles' question let them jerk their attention back to him. He stared at the red furred male. "Would you move it already? I have a mate to return to!," the male hissed and Knuckles' chair moved up – with the echidna on it, who clung to it in surprise – and raced over to Kylie, to deposit its passenger on the woman's lap and to return to its original place, standing there innocently.

Whatever happened between the two afterwards was obscured by the suddenly not translucent anymore curtain.

"Hm, I get, why you are befriended with him, you are apparently on the same intellectual level.," Mephiles commented, which let Shadow just shrug. He was positive, that without Sonic close by, they'd be already redecorating Kylie's office... and several other rooms. "You were talking about this earlier, correct?," he rather asked. "Indeed I was.," Mephiles replied calmly, watching the gray curtain, as if he could see through it, not needing to think for even a second about what he meant.

"So you believe this?," Shadow continued to ask. Mephiles chuckled. "'Believe'?," he repeated, amused by the choice of words. "Believing is for the weak, who need a reason to stand up in the mornings. No, I _know_, that my Silver is one of those legendary hedgehogs and I also _know_, that your boyfriend is one, too."

Shadow stared from him to Sonic and back. "How?," he asked. It didn't sound, as if Kylie had told him about it... "Yeah, I'd like to know that, too.," Sonic piped up.

Mephiles smirked. "Allow me to show you, then." At once, his shadow stretched out, crawling along the floor, up the walls and along the ceiling in less than a second, drowning out most of the light.

In the strange twilight, Shadow noticed a red energy, surrounding his whole body. It seemed to flicker, like a fire in a storm, just without the heat. Looking over to Rouge and Mephiles, he saw, that it was the same for them, but the colors were different. Rouge had a dark purple one, that moved in gentle waves over her body and Mephiles one, that had the same color as his stripes and danced over his dark fur like a fire in a windless night.

Noticing a brightness from something in front of him, Shadow turned his head and his jaw just dropped.

Sonic stood in front of him, having slipped off his lap unnoticed, and stared down on himself in wonder. While the three other ones were merely glowing, like dying embers, Sonic was shining like a little sun, white-golden energy surrounding him in a thick, shining layer, here and there interrupted by a speck of blue energy, appearing and disappearing like dolphins breaking the golden ocean's surface to breathe, before diving again.

"This blue energy." Mephiles had gone closer to Sonic and taken off one of his gloves, swiping along Sonic's arm without touching him, catching a tiny flame of the blue energy on his index finger's claw, where it danced like a fire.

"This is the energy you have been born with. This white one, however, is of a purity, that a mortal creature is normally unable to reach. Yet, I saw this energy already three times.," he explained, the energy getting extinguished by a small bit of darkness, that came out of his fingertip and pretty much swallowed the small bit effortlessly. "That better wasn't vital for him!," Shadow snarled.

Mephiles rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. Mobians and humans alike are always producing Chaos Energy. It would be more dangerous to do that to _you_, since your body struggles to keep your Chaos Energy around you.," he muttered.

"How come, that we see this now? What did you do?," Sonic asked confused. "I brought you in my mind.," Mephiles shrugged, as if it was completely natural. "Really? Does it cause you a headache, if I stamp on the ground?," Shadow asked, annoyed. "Since this is a mere illusion, no. But I like, how you think.," Mephiles smirked.

His ear twitched and he turned back to the dark veil, snapping his fingers, which caused it, and the illusion, to shatter like glass. Before all remains had disappeared, Knuckles already fell to the ground, apparently having tried to break through the veil.

"What took you so long?," he snarled, stood up and dusted himself off, small remains of the shards falling off him and disintegrating into dust before reaching the ground. "I was distracted. Was this all, or am I needed still?," Mephiles asked towards Kylie.

"You know, I always wondered, how Perringten could get you and Shadow. If sedation would have worked on you, then Towers would have decorated his office with those sedation darts.," Rouge mentioned.

"Perringten's men didn't use sedation, although it worked like it. They used a poison cocktail on the semes.," Kylie explained, dusting off her desk.

"WHAT!?," Sonic and Rouge exclaimed in horror. "Don't worry, they had always the antidote with them. Sedatives don't work on semes, at least not for longer than a few minutes. Their metabolisms quickly turn into overdrive and dissolve the fluid, easy as that. With a mixture out of poisons, however, it's different. Once poisoned, the semes immediately fall into a deep sleep, stopping all other functions to try and metabolize the poison, so that it doesn't harm them.," Kylie explained, ending her small task.

"They just fall over, where they stand? Even if they are close to an edge, or in the water?," Rouge asked, incredulously.

"Well, I never said, that it was the best invention of nature. It sadly happens all the time, that semes starve to death or drown, while they try to heal themselves from poisoning. Anyway, the poisoning kept them in a very deep sleep, that lasted, until they got the antidote, or until they had metabolized everything, which usually took hours to days.," the woman replied.

"So all those darts...," Shadow mumbled in horror, with Mephiles looking worried, too. They both knew, that the ukes got sedated with darts on Paradise, unlike the semes. How much poison had coursed through their veins?

"No need to get worried. This poisoning was ONLY for capturing you semes. Don't forget the collars you wore. They weakened you enough for the sedation to work longer."

"Can't say, that these collars worked on Silver. He could read my thoughts just fine all the time.," Mephiles huffed, actually mildly embarrassed, that those things had a bigger impact on him, than on his mate.

Kylie shrugged. "Perringten didn't care about that THAT much. Those collars they wore in the cell with the cushions had only the function to weaken them – the rest did the drug for Sonic. Since he was the Alpha and quickly established himself as such, Jester could bet, that they wouldn't initiate an escape." Shadow believed to feel Sonic's heartbeat quicken at that, but maybe he was just seeing things.

"If you don't need me anymore." Not waiting for a reply, Mephiles vanished as easily as he had come.

"One last question, before Knuckie and I hit it – who was the other?," Rouge asked, looking at Kylie expectantly, while Knuckles next to her turned beet-red upon hearing the nickname.

The woman blinked. "The other?," she repeated, clearly not understanding, who she meant.

"You know, the one, who Alister had a fight with." "Oh...," Kylie made, before she shrugged. "I have no idea. Alister started writing diaries after this night...or he burned all of the old ones. The only information he gives about the other are linked with profanities. According to those, he's fat, an alcoholic, had several STDs and so on – and it's probably all not true, just proof of his hatred. I can only tell you for sure, that he was probably as rich as Alister to that time, since he would have been below his standards otherwise. However, that was the case for several families, that maybe don't even exist anymore, or are now totally poor. I have no idea, what became of him, but I can try to find more out."

"Would be better. I mean, this guy had apparently the same god-complex as this Alister, I highly doubt, that he just made this bet and let it be afterwards.," Rouge explained, while Knuckles carefully collected in the wooden figurines. "I see... Of course, you're right. I try to find out more.," Kylie promised thoughtfully.

"Do you have the measurements of the reliefs? I would like to know, how much space they'll need.," Knuckles asked, looking at the still lined-up pictures.

"You can just look at them yourself. Ask Mali, she'll show you, where they are. This way, you can test out their weight, too and see, how good you can carry them.," the woman offered. "Thanks."

Knuckles was just reaching for the last figurine, when suddenly the whole room shook, so hard, that it fell over. Instinctively, Sonic jumped up, ready for a fight.

Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles were copying him, too used to Eggman's giant robots attacking to just ignore it. The only one, who was strangely unaffected, was Kylie, who just sighed in exasperation.

"You might want to keep away from the door.," the woman grumbled, annoyed and not even a bit concerned or scared, although files were slipping left and right off her desk and hitting the ground.

"Kylie, what's going on!?," Sonic asked, noticing the quakes getting stronger and having an almost regular pattern to themselves.

Before she could answer, the door got thrown open and a gasping John stood in the frame. "I swear, I had the best intentions!," he quickly explained, before coming in, throwing the door shut, crossing the room and pretty much diving to hide under her desk the moment Kylie stood up.

Just a second later, the door got thrown out of its hinges, flying towards Kylie, who was the only one not running to dodge the large projectile, that was accompanied by a shout of "WHERE IS HE!?".

* * *

*= I figured, that Sonic's not only living in a different dimension and on another planet, but also in another time, meaning in the future - so, yeah, the beginning of industry had been longer ago, than in our case.

Thanks for reading! I sadly can't say, when I will be able to upload the next chapter, as I'm still very stressed, but you know, that I work on it as much as I can every day :).

Bye and have a nice weekend!


	10. 9: In need of help

Hi guys, sorry for the long wait - homework from university and making Christmas presents kept me busy. I hope you had a nice Christmas and that you will start the New Year happily!

You'll probably be also happy to hear, that finally Fleetourge will start, with this chapter. Now, please enjoy!

* * *

**9: In need of help**

The wooden projectile stopped not even an inch away from Kylie's nose, who didn't blink at being so close to it, or at the gust of wind, that the sudden interruption of its flight caused.

Sonic, who had fought against Shadow's protective grip, in that the seme had pulled him the second he had seen the door leaving its frame, to save her, stopped at once and looked up to see four black tentacles gripping the corners of the door with snake maw-like tips, having apparently caught the heavy object, keeping it above the ground.

Sonic turned his head and followed the blackish strings to Mephiles standing in the door frame, having his arm outstretched. Next to him was another familiar figure, at least more or less...

It was Fleetway, but like he had never before seen him. He was pretty much glowing in yellow and the red swirls in his eyes looked, as if they were about to burn his eyeballs. He was drooling and his jaws pressed so hard on each other, that his gums were bleeding, the blood streaming in thin rivulets out of his mouth and from his chin, most dried, before the first drop could fall.

More black tentacles were pressing his limbs close together, but were smoking more and more and while Sonic watched, they burned away like paper in a fire.

"WHERE IS HE!?," he screamed again, until he was surrounded by the black stuff completely, looking like a strange caterpillar trying to escape its cocoon. Even in that, probably not very thin, layer appeared the first burns. Mephiles frowned at that.

"John...," Kylie called with a voice, that promised lots and lots of trouble, returning the attention to her.

Sonic turned around to see John's head pop out from under the desk. "Er...yeah?," he asked nervously. "Care to explain, why Fleetway is after you so badly?," Kylie asked sternly.

"W-well..." John stood up reluctantly and played with his fingers, nervously. "You told me to keep them separated, so I thought, that putting him in one of those empty storage rooms would calm him down..."

Kylie raised a brow. "You thought, that putting an angry seme of the Lightning Class, the most explosive and unstable class of them all, in a limited space was a good idea?," she asked incredulously.

"W-well, if you formulate it like that...," John stammered, starting to sweat. "What is the next 'ingenious' plan? To poke a hornets' nest? John, you will replace everything Fleetway destroyed.," she ordered after her short, yet effective lecture.

"But I could simply-" The young man interrupted himself, when he caught Kylie's dangerous glare.

"Y-yeah.," he quickly agreed. "You will make sure, that everyone he hurt will get proper medical attention AND you will apologize to them.," she continued.

"Wha-? But HE hurt them!," John protested, pointing to the male, who just got wrapped in more of Mephiles' black stuff, as the first layer had been almost burned away.

"Mobians, who are high on instincts, are like guns with poisonous bullets – deadly in every case. And you pulled the trigger of such a weapon with your careless acting. YOU are responsible and YOU will apologize. And you should PRAY, that everyone forgives you.," Kylie told him coldly.

John bit his lip and nodded, his head hung low in shame. "Also, I want you to visit the next class concerning semes.," Kylie went on.

"W-what!? Why!?," the young man gasped, looking up again. "You clearly lack knowledge of how to handle semes, otherwise you would have known, that running away from enraged semes is the worst thing you could have done."

"Yeah, right. What should I have done? Stay there and let him kill me?," John hissed, in a weak attempt of fighting her.

"Almost. You will learn more in the class. I will ask Mali later, if you let yourself getting registered, so rather don't stall – or I'll organize a special class, just for you about how to treat ukes right – and you know, how much they love it to gossip. See it as punishment for your stupidity."

"And the other two things? Aren't they punishments, too?," he bit out bitterly. "No, they are lessons in how to earn forgiveness."

John looked at her in surprise. "Tell me, when someone still holds a grudge against you after apologizing, I'll think of something.," Kylie smiled.

She knew of course, that John had trouble in the social department, due to his limited contact with others in his childhood, that's why she – mostly subtly – helped him with that, by giving him instructions of how to behave in situations, when he felt lost. Sometimes, Happy or Mali did the same.

"And if it's any consolation, Shadow, Mephiles and Fleetway will join you in the class.," she added

"WHAT!?," said males, even Fleetway, whose head was sticking out of a pillar of black slime, which let him look like a giant candle, exclaimed.

Kylie didn't even flinch. "You heard me. Shadow." She turned to the seething male. "Sonic wanted out of your arms and not for fun. If that door here would have hit and injured, or even killed me and you would have been between my rescue and him as the rescuer, this would have caused a very deep rift between you. Of course, your instincts would bind you together still and someday, he would probably forgive you and mean it, but I wouldn't call that, what you would have between you until then, a relationship anymore."

The dark male swallowed dryly and his arms fell to his side. He felt Sonic's eyes on him, actually several other pairs, too, but he didn't look in any, besides Kylie's. "You need to learn to trust in Sonic, under any circumstances. Of course, the class will not give you this trust, but it will help you understand some things.," Kylie encouraged. The agent nodded slowly.

"Mephiles.," the woman turned to the male, who was just letting the door down, so that it leaned on the desk, forming a ramp. "Although I appreciate your help, it should look different. Trying to restrain a raging seme is as stupid as locking him away." "Are you calling me an idiot twice in one day?," Mephiles hissed.

"You just did.," Kylie shrugged. "I want you to go there to learn, how you can stop semes without endangering everyone else, including Silver."

Mephiles smirked. "Nice try, but Silver is too far away for Fleetway to harm him.," he growled.

Kylie sighed and shook her head. "There YOU are wrong. Semes in a rage can cross a line, that is known as the 'Point of no return'. Once they have crossed this point, they can't return to normal, like a rabid animal, and need to be killed – because they kill everything they see, until they are stopped. Do you want to make a bet, when Fleetway – or another seme you unsuccessfully tried to stop – has reached Silver and takes revenge on him for carrying your scent?," she challenged. Mephiles sneered back. "Fine."

He snapped his fingers and the slime fell off Fleetway, who looked at the woman, seemingly not realizing, that he was free again. "What about me?," he asked her. "Do you have any idea, how many people you hurt on your way here?," Kylie just asked back.

"Er..." Fleetway frowned. "No idea?," he offered. "You will take that class and learn to control your emotions.," Kylie declared, as if it was final. "Whatever.," the male shrugged. Unlike the other two, he was pretty fast convinced.

"Now, where is he? Where's Scourge?" The energy, that had calmed down in the meantime, came back full-force. John seemed kind of relieved, that Fleetway was apparently not after him, as he had feared.

"Ah, yes, I've been meaning to talk about this with you. If you would follow me...," Kylie requested, crossing the room quickly and moving past him, for sure expecting him to follow, but the seme didn't even think for a second about it.

"No way, I want answers n- OW!" Without missing a beat, Kylie's hand had appeared again, grabbed his ear and pulled it to force him to move with her.

She appeared fully in the frame after a few seconds and after pulling Fleetway out of sight. Only his pain-filled whines were audible.

"Mephiles, please join us, John, you start cleaning up your mess, starting with my office. Knuckles, Rouge, feel free to go. Shadow, Sonic, just wait for me, this shouldn't take longer than an hour. If you're very bored, you can just walk around the Shelter, Nicole will find and inform you everywhere.," she smiled, before moving away, pulling a whining Fleetway, who was briefly visible, when she turned around, before being dragged out of sight again, after her.

Mephiles huffed, his tentacles grabbed the door and put it back in place, the hinges 'mysteriously' repaired. He closed it, leaving the four occupants of the room by themselves.

"Sonic, I wanted-" Shadow interrupted himself, when he couldn't find the person he had tried to talk to. He wasn't in the room anymore! "Sonic!" At once, he ran out of the room, almost not opening the door before exiting.

"Should we help him?," Rouge asked Knuckles with a neutral, almost bored voice, looking at the guardian with a side glance.

"No need.," Knuckles shrugged and collected the last figurine in, while John dutifully picked up files next to the desk and put them back on top.

"Trying to find Sonic is a waste of time, when you can't keep up with him. Besides, I don't think, that he can get into a lot of trouble here. Well, not more than usual. I'll just go and ask about the reliefs."

"Hope you don't mind me tagging along.," Rouge grinned and they left through the open door, ignoring John's "Urgh, what's that in the bin!?", behind them.

* * *

The second Sonic had heard Scourge's name, he had been determined to hear, what Kylie wanted to tell Fleetway.

So he followed the small group secretly, which wasn't such a hassle, due to his speed and Kylie not going far, just two hallways away, in a – for him – random room.

He high speedily sneaked up to the closed door and carefully opened it. He could see Fleetway and Kylie arguing, but didn't hear a single word, their lips moving soundlessly.

Frowning, he tried to get closer, almost entering the room as he did so, until his nose hit something hard at once, as if there was an invisible glass wall in the door frame.

Before the blue hero had time to understand this, the hard thing turned pitch black and familiar tentacles shot out of the blackness, grabbing him and pulling him closer to it, but it was now a strange, rather soft mass, through that he went easily, too surprised to even try to fight back.

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Kylie knew the Shelter perfectly and had therefore no problem with finding an empty room – that usually was a classroom, but currently unused.

She pushed Fleetway in and only let go of his maltreated ear, when Mephiles had closed the door behind them.

"Mephiles, please build a soundproof wall, okay?," Kylie asked, not leaving Fleetway out of her sight, while the male rubbed the brutally offended ear – mobian ears were very sensitive, Kylie was well aware of that – with a string of curses, that were too soft for her to make them out. The tone just told her, that he probably cursed her to hell currently.

"Sure.," the dark seme shrugged. At once, all background noises disappeared and only deafening silence was left behind.

A black tentacle came out of the dark being's shadow and briefly wrapped around the fingers, that had pulled the light male's ear.

Mephiles was aware, that Kylie had burned them due to the heat the other seme produced with his raw Chaos Energy, he knew, that the woman tended to ignore her pain, when she was determined. He was actually impressed, that she would do this more often than not.

"Just what do you think you're doing!? I just want to know, where Scourge is, what's so wrong with that!?," Fleetway snarled at the woman.

"I want you to keep away from Scour-" "Who are YOU to tell me what to do!?," Fleetway raged, not letting her finish. "Would you listen for-" "NO!"

"Hold on.," Mephiles interrupted their fight and Kylie turned around to see the space surrounded by the door frame pitch black, with Sonic just getting pulled through the strange gooey mass there and landing in the next second ungracefully on the ground.

"Look, what got dragged in. Did nobody tell you, that curiosity killed the cat? Or rather – the hedgehog.," the dark seme smirked and lances, coming out of the mass he had slipped through, pointed at him from all sides, at times resting against his body or poking him lightly, revealing their deadly hard texture.

"Mephiles, don't fool yourself. You can't bring your instincts to kill an Alpha.," Kylie explained, rolling her eyes.

Mephiles frowned at her and then at the hero. "Fantastic. And here I had thought, that my unwillingness to kill him had something to do with Silver liking him.," the male growled, while the lances disintegrated into dust, the mass returning to be the glass wall and the door slamming shut to ward off every other attempt of listening in.

Slowly, as if he wasn't trusting the peace to last, Sonic stood up, dusting himself off. "Is this really true?," he asked Kylie.

"Yes. There are only very rare occasions, during that semes would try to kill an Alpha – and the thrill of killing doesn't count.," she added towards Mephiles, who rolled his eyes himself.

It was almost the whole truth – Mephiles couldn't kill Sonic, because he saw him as _his _Alpha, just like he did with Kylie. Any other Alpha wasn't safe from him, if he wished to kill him, but he didn't need to know that.

"HEY! I still want an answer here! Stop talking with that blue fur ball already!," Fleetway snarled, actually waving his arms, as if he assumed, that he was too small to be noticed right away.

Seeing Sonic's slight offense at the comment, Kylie chuckled. "Respect doesn't belong to the things mobians provide their Alphas with naturally."

"Hellooo! Talk already, human – with me! How dare you tell me, that I shouldn't see Scourge anymore!?" With each word, Fleetway's energy flared brighter.

Kylie sighed. "Mephiles, could you please exclude yourself from the conversation?," she asked, although ignoring Fleetway further didn't seem a smart thing to do right now.

"What about him?," Mephiles nodded to Sonic, who raised a brow. "He can stay. As an Alpha, nobody, but me, can tell him to leave and I trust him to keep what we talk about a secret."

"And not me?," the seme asked, clearly offended. "Since you and Silver have a mental connection, that you can't handle as easily as your mate – yes."

Mephiles growled. "Careful, most people don't survive insulting me once – thrice a day is a little too much." "Then don't give me a reason.," Kylie shrugged.

The dark seme scowled and turned to march towards the back of the room, where several tables and chairs were stapled. Without hesitating, he jumped up to sit on one of the chair staples, keeping his balance perfectly, before looking away and surrounding himself with the same veil he had used in Kylie's office.

"Now." Although the temperature in the room had increased by the waves the pissed Fleetway gave off, the human woman was in no rush to address him.

"I didn't ask you to stay away from Scourge forever.," Kylie started, which calmed the seme down greatly already, "I just want you to keep a distance to him for a while."

Fleetway frowned. "Why? It's not like I'm doing something, I'm just worried! I mean, have you seen him lately? He's totally thin and have you noticed those bags under his eyes? He's going to stumble over them at some point! And I'm pretty sure, that losing fur and quills in that rate isn't healthy at all!," he raged, getting more and more agitated with each word.

Sonic felt his own distress-levels rise at hearing that. Was Scourge so bad off? He knew, that hedgehogs didn't lose noticeably quills at once, only one or two every few weeks. When they lost more than that, then they were very sick and in some cases even close to death. It wasn't THAT bad, was it?

"I get, that you are worried about him, but chasing him like a hungry wolf does with its prey isn't helping. He's stressed out beyond compare and your actions made everything worse.," Kylie explained.

"What do you mean?," Fleetway frowned. "Do you know, where Scourge is right now?," Kylie asked back. "No?," Fleetway replied, surprised, that she would probably tell him, where he could find him, when she had forbidden him from going to him – what would stop him from going to him?

"He's currently in our Intensive Care Unit. After touring several bars last night and this morning with his friend, a female fox, as far as I'm informed, drinking several liters of all variations of alcohol and consuming less than legal drugs, too, the two had to stumble in the worst district of the city, right in the territory of a gang of aggressive wolf mobians. When they met a few of the gang members there, Scourge had in his drunken state nothing better to do, than to bend over for them and to tell them to, and I quote, 'destroy his hole beyond repair'."

Fleetway paled at once. "Th-they didn't.," he stuttered and almost begged at the same time.

"Of course not. The second the first approached, Scythe had already castrated half of the group. She brought the two then to the nearest hospital to get their stomachs pumped out, since we can't do that here, and returned afterwards with Scourge, a while ago."

Sonic, who was kind of glad, that his own stomach was already empty while hearing that, realized, that the call Kylie had gotten from Scythe earlier had been probably about Scourge and, that Kylie had left the office shortly before her kids had come there, because of Scythe having returned and she had wanted to check up on the green furred uke. It was typical for her to only trust, what she had controlled herself.

The sound of small sobs let the hero return his attention to Fleetway, who was on his knees, his claws had dug through his gloves and were scratching thin lines in the wooden floor, while he balled his hands to fists. Small tears fell to the ground between his knees. "It's my fault, isn't it?," he sobbed. "B-because of what I did to him, two years ago. It's because of me, that he's doing that, I just know it. I know, what it looks like, when people break, we've lost so many to drugs and alcohol. Stumbled on the road fully drunk and- Oh, Chaos...!"

Sonic watched, how Fleetway pretty much talked himself into hysterics. He understood now, what Kylie meant with semes of this class being unpredictable. He switched from rage to devastation in the blink of an eye. He deserved to be so shocked, though – Scourge hadn't stomached, what had happened, just like Fleetway, predicted it, so he apparently tried to find a – temporary – escape in alcohol and dru-

"FLEETWAY!," Kylie screamed at the top of her lungs, making both hedgehogs jump. Both had been too deep in their thoughts to hear Kylie trying to reach the light seme, until she had screamed.

They turned around to see her leaning against the edge of the desk behind her, that looked like a teacher's in school, and having crossed her arms.

"If you would listen for two minutes, I would love to clear some things up. First of all, the only thing you should be sorry for, is chasing him for the last few months relentlessly. THAT caused him to get worse and do stupid things to himself. Not, what happened two years ago."

Fleetway stared at the woman with a dropped jaw. "W-what? B-but..." He was at a loss for words.

"Trust me on this, what happened on the Island didn't have such a great impact on his psyche as you might think. In fact, he already forgave you for that quite a while ago."

Sonic's jaw joined Fleetway's on the ground. "He- WHAT!?," he bristled. Fleetway actually shuffled back a little. He still remembered, how dangerous the blue furred uke could become, when he was angry.

Kylie sighed and turned to him. "Sonic, if you like it, or not – Scourge and Fleetway are like you and Shadow and Silver and Mephiles meant for each other. Even if Fleetway would have attempted to kill him – not saying, that you would!," she quickly added, when Fleetway started to growl, "Even if Fleetway would have treated him more horribly, than he did, Scourge's instincts would have still drawn him towards Fleetway." Sonic got even more upset by that explanation, she could see that clearly.

Kylie sighed once more. "Sonic, it's natural, okay? Nine of ten mating acts in older days would be considered as rape today. Thanks to the instincts, those mates stayed together anyway."

Sonic felt the urge to rip those instincts out of himself. Seemed, as if those things were as horrible, as they were beneficial.

"Nowadays, it's of course different, your minds are far more complicated and I reassure you, that it wasn't because of the instincts, that Scourge forgave Fleetway. The main reason, why he forgave Fleetway, lies in his past."

"What could possibly have happened for him to forgive something like THAT!?," Sonic growled. Forget, maybe suppress, okay, he could imagine that, he did the same with his own rape – but forgive? If his attacker would still live...could he forgive him, even if he begged for it on his knees? He had no idea.

Kylie looked from one male to the other, seemingly deep in thought, and eventually ran a hand through her hair in defeat.

"Alright, I'll tell you.," she started, letting both look up and at her. "When you...attacked Scourge, it hadn't been the first time, that he had been raped – and not the first time, that it had been done by someone he knew, either."

The two hedgehogs stared at her. Fleetway opened his mouth, as if trying to say something, but closed it almost immediately again, at a loss for words.

"Who?," he finally managed to croak after several tries of saying something. "His father.," Kylie replied with a silent voice.

"Scourge's mother died in childbirth and his father blamed him. He often abused him and, when he was drunken enough, confused him with his wife and raped him. That's, why Scourge lived on the streets, since he had been seven."

Fleetway felt like throwing up, while he let the information sink in. He knew, that Scourge had lived on the streets, before joining their gang, but never, how he had landed there. He had simply assumed, before he knew the – obviously invented – truth, that he had fled from one of the bad orphanages, like so many others, or been found in the streets as a really young child and raised by another homeless, as it had been the case with him. But that...that was the worst form of homeless persons. Those, who left their homes, because the streets with their cold, rainy, lonely and hungry nights were better, than what awaited them in their four walls.

All too soon, his shock turned to rage. "Where is this asshole!?," he hissed with a venomous voice.

"If there is something like justice in this world, then he's rotting in the depths of hell. He got hit by a truck five years ago, died three days afterwards. Nicole researched it.," Kylie growled back, obviously as upset, as Fleetway was, that he escaped his punishment this easily – although they both had different opinions on how this punishment should look like.

"Scourge will never forgive his father for what he did, his hatred towards him will never cease. Although there are several parallels between what he and you did to him, he was willing to forgive you – and he did."

"But why? I don't deserve a single shred of his forgiveness. I treated him like shit.," Fleetway sighed and Sonic found himself nodding in agreement.

"Like his father – but you apologized to him and that's the reason, why he forgave you. After all, he had liked you before the Island-mess started, unlike his parent, who he only feared and later despised."

"He...liked me?," Fleetway asked, as if she was talking about something completely unbelievable.

"He still likes you. He only kept away from you on the Island, because he didn't want to give the humans there any hints."

"I don't get it.," Fleetway mumbled, shaking his head. "Well, Scourge wasn't stupid, he could imagine, that showing too much affection towards-"

"No, not that.," Fleetway interrupted. "I can already imagine, that they tried to find the ones the ukes wouldn't fight off and fuck willingly, so they can save some drugs."

Kylie's eyelid twitched. "...Right.," she mumbled, having probably thought about a more sophisticated way of explaining this.

"What I don't get, is, that Scourge tells YOU about his father and that stuff. I know him for ten years now – and Fi even for eleven! Why did he tell _you_ about all this and when I and she asked, he just invented lies about escaping an orphanage?"

Fleetway could actually beat himself up for his stupidity. He should have noticed, that Scourge had lied, his stories had always been a little different, when he had told them, now, that he thought about it. A different name of the place or the persons, the way he sneaked out/away... The only thing staying the same was, how he started to – unsuccessfully – steal from other people to survive at first, before he got the hang of it. Then again, they had usually all been roaring drunk, when he had been convinced to tell his story, so he wouldn't have noticed.

"Because I didn't ask.," Kylie answered, which left both males irritated. "Fleetway, Scourge is an Introverted uke. Asking him directly just results in him lying." Completely confused stares were the only reaction she got.

The woman frowned in thought. "Okay, let's take Sonic and Silver as examples. If I would ask Sonic, how he is, he would always answer me truthfully. Even if he just tells me, that he doesn't want to talk about it, he would answer me honestly. Silver would turn red for being spoken to, but eventually answer me truthfully, too. Introverted ukes, however, always answer the same. Usually, they answer with 'I'm fine'. Even if they are hospitalized, they always answer like they do in normal situations. Not because they are lazy, but because they are closed in themselves. They keep their true selves and feelings hidden behind a metaphorical door, that has thousands of locks. It takes time to open all those locks, to open up themselves – and pressuring them is like trying to break through the door with a ram. And believe me, that is never good. If you want to talk with him, you have to wait for him to take the first step.

He often hid from you in my office – which doesn't give you permission to destroy it on a daily basis, by the way – and just sat in a corner, watching me for hours doing paperwork. I barely talked to him, only when I called Mali to bring me something to drink or a snack and I asked him, if he wanted something, too. Otherwise, we spent hours in silence and sometimes, when he felt like it, he would start to talk, knowing, that I won't ever interrupt him, just listening. That way, he told me a lot of his past and what's going on in his mind."

"What is...on his mind?," Fleetway asked slowly, not sure, if Kylie would answer. Scourge trusted her apparently, so she was less likely to gossip...

"He is pretty close to falling for you.," the woman answered, to their surprise, honestly. "And if you tell, or even _hint_ to Scourge, that you know that from me, you will wish your behind back on the Island, got it?," she added with such a dark tone and glare, that Sonic himself grew slightly scared and nodded vigorously, along with Fleetway.

"Good." As if having flipped a switch, Kylie became friendly again instantly. "The reason, why he is running from you, in more ways than just one, is a problem, that is kind of linked with you." Fleetway cocked his head. "Huh?"

The woman sighed and brushed her hair back, worrying her lip. She was thinking hard about just how she could explain this properly.

"You noticed those collared mobians around here, didn't you?," she started. "You mean those, who always piss themselves seeing me?," Fleetway shrugged.

"...Yeah, those. Didn't you ever wonder, why John got them?" "Not-" "I did, several times already.," Sonic interrupted the less than helpful Fleetway. Didn't he understand, that Kylie was trying her best here to get to the point?

Kylie seemed relieved to have found a way to tell the apparently complicated story, because she answered Sonic immediately. "That wasn't planned, not at all, but when John saw them there, he just couldn't let them die. The reason, why he went to Saha in the first place, however, had been Scourge."

"WHAT!?," both males pretty much screamed at her. "It had been a few months ago already, that Scourge had been kidnapped and brought there to be sold as a slave.," Kylie explained.

"But...what were those people doing outside of Saha?," Sonic asked, trying to process, what happened to Scourge.

"Well, the poor people of Saha all suffer from malnutrition and illnesses of all kinds, which doesn't make them this desirable, so some slave traders send their henchmen outside the kingdom to find new slaves. They are as clever as Perringten had been, they had mostly looked for people, who wouldn't be missed, like homeless, or criminals."

"But why Scourge?," Fleetway growled. "Actually, the people kidnapping him had been after a few homeless children. Scourge witnessed it coincidentally and protected them, which caused him to get captured instead. Since the people sent out to get new slaves needed to fulfill a quote, they took him with them."

"And how did you know, that he was there?," Sonic wondered. "You can thank Emma and Silver for that. The two are a perfect team. Emma gets the predictions or memories and Silver picks out the ones he needs. And since he had always cared for Scourge and you, he immediately knew, that he was in trouble. They informed me and John and he made his way over to Saha to purchase Scourge, as hard as it was."

"Couldn't you inform the police?," Sonic asked, looking over to Fleetway, who apparently planned a certain murder already.

"We couldn't. In Saha, slavery is perfectly legal and there had been no witnesses of Scourge getting kidnapped, besides some random street kids and Silver and Emma indirectly. We could have tried to dig out some records on Scourge being born in one of our cities, but since nobody knew, where he came from – and _Scourge_ is for sure not his real name –, that could have taken weeks. And who knew, what the one buying him would have done to him by then...," Kylie sighed.

"They...they didn't...you know...," Fleetway tried to formulate a proper sentence, but the shock paralyzed his brain. Why wasn't he there for Scourge? Why hadn't he...felt, suspected something? Anything?

Kylie looked at him in thought. "I guess, it's best I show you." "Show...?" Fleetway repeated, not getting, what she meant.

Kylie nodded. "Mephiles." The dark male appeared again, looking livid. "WHAT?," he snarled.

"Did I interrupt something?," Kylie asked with an apologetic smile. "_Yes_, you did!," was the annoyed answer.

"How about I'll make it up?," Kylie smiled, despite Sonic and Fleetway waiting anxiously next to her.

"I'm listening.," Mephiles replied with a raised brow. "I could 'coincidentally' meet up with Silver and teach him one or two things about dating.," Kylie suggested. Mephiles narrowed his eyes at her. "He told you about our last date, didn't he?" Kylie's mouth twitched. "Maybe. Now, could you please give me the orb?"

"If that's all. And you better fulfill your promise soon." Mephiles snapped his fingers and a small white pearl appeared over his hand, falling on his palm. It was barely larger than a marble. He curled his fingers and tapped the small ball with the tip of his claw, which caused it to enlarge to the size of a football. "Here you go." With a simple move of his arm, he threw the orb over to the woman, who caught it easily, so it probably wasn't very heavy. Before she could thank him, Mephiles was already gone.

"What is that?," Sonic asked, pointing to the ball in her hand. "A copy of John's memory concerning the day he rescued Scourge."

Sonic raised a brow. "When he returned, I needed to know, what happened, but he couldn't exactly form words, so Mephiles took his memories and created a copy, that I could watch like a movie on television...just with all senses. I can show you those memories, too, if you want to, but I have to warn you, it's not pretty."

Fleetway balled his fists and squared his shoulders. "Doesn't matter. I need to see that." Sonic just nodded, not trusting his voice right now. "Alright."

* * *

Kylie pressed a small speck of gray on the white orb, that she knew was like a play-button. The orb glowed and immediately, Sonic and Fleetway found themselves surrounded by other people in long robes. Although most of them seemed to be mobians, Sonic found them rather small, in comparison to himself. Even the hedgehogs he could make out by their backquills poking out of the robes were rather small, yet looked mature...

It took him another second to realize, that this was John's perspective, he was of course taller than most mobians. Curiously, he looked around. The ground was now rough stone with sand on it. Buildings, that were rather broad, than high, stood around him, sandy carpets in their entrances trying to make them look inviting. From what he could see, there were only shops around them, although he couldn't read the writings over the shops at all, that was a completely different language. He also noticed, that most people were wearing blue, or had blue fur, hair or scales – yet, he could easily tell, that they were dyed.

In the shadows of the building he could see dirty people, looking like walking skeletons, sitting on their knees with bowed heads, apparently trying to gain attention from the passing people. This had to be the poor people.

He also noticed, that he didn't only see and hear, what John heard and saw, he could also feel the heat of the desert city and smell foreign scents, that seemed to come from food being prepared somewhere. So this was, what 'with all senses' meant. It was a weird feeling, as if he was standing on a platform in John's opened head, connected to his senses – and apparently feelings, considering the knot of anxiety, that he felt in his stomach, but wasn't his.

He was startled a bit, when the whole scene suddenly shifted, as John had turned his glare from the surroundings to a piece of paper in his slightly trembling hands.

At first, it looked like a colorful mess, but then he could make out a shape, that looked like a small yellow castle with green towers. A few windows were next to the opening, that was just a black hole, apart from a badly drawn green figure with blue eyes, that seemed to cry and wave with outstretched, peach colored arms.

The scene shifted again, when John looked up, staring at a building, that looked disturbingly similar to the drawn one. It was out of yellow sandstone and towered above them. Green flags swung lazily in a breeze on three battlement-like structures right on the building's roof. Another unknown writing was above the opening, highlighted by the pictures of a male and a female cat mobian in rather suggestive poses behind the writing. Sonic was kind of glad, that those hadn't been in the child's, probably Emma's, drawing.

"This is the place.," Sonic heard John mumble to himself, before he started to move towards the building. He was trembling apparently, since the picture was slightly distorted – which actually made Sonic a bit dizzy.

After stepping into the building without any hindrances, John seemed to calm down. He stopped trembling mostly, looked around the small foyer-like room directly behind the entrance and Sonic jerked a little – along with John – when they came face to face with a blue haired human in long blue robes. It took John, who quickly relaxed, less longer than Sonic to realize, that they were looking in a mirror. John had dyed his – to this time reaching his shoulders – hair dark blue, which didn't suit him at all. He was rather pale and make-up was almost completely concealing dark rings under his eyes, signs of his depression. He apparently also tried to hide, how thin he actually was. The wide, heavy feeling clothes definitely hid a lot. Seeing the wrinkled nose of the mirror image, John thought apparently not, that he was pretty good looking, just like Sonic.

_Chaos, I look like a Sonic the Hedgehog-fanatic._, he heard John's voice, but since his lips hadn't moved, it was apparently a direct, conscious thought.

Well, he couldn't agree more. A good year after becoming famous, he had had a lot of people trying to imitate his 'style'. It had taken quite a while, until he had managed to convince them, that his blue fur wasn't a fashion statement, but his natural fur color. Some of his fans probably felt pretty stupid to imitate him in the first place, once he told them that – others, however, felt even more obligated to rid every store of the color blue, if he trusted the newspaper articles he read after his successful statement.

_Enough stalling, let's go._, John told himself and went through the second entrance into a large, almost dark room. Windows were only in the front, the back was completely windowless, or at least completely covered by dark, thick curtains. All kinds of people were filling the room, talking with each other, standing close to a wooden stage in the back, on that was a man in red robes.

He was just talking into a microphone, when John entered. "Ladies and gentlemen!," his booming voice was carried into every corner by big speakers close to the ceiling above the stage. "Our auction will begin shortly! Please take your last chance to examine the goods before, in the room to my right. Thank you!" Then he said something in another language, but it seemed to be the same. They were apparently prepared for international visitors.

John turned to the direction the man had meant and saw a pair of dark blue, opened curtains.

_I need to be sure._, John thought and made his way over. He stumbled back again on the threshold – and Sonic knew, why. A gruesome stench greeted him, seemingly a mix out of urine, vomit, sweat and no fresh air at all. Composing himself, which was probably not so easy, John made his way inside.

The room behind the curtains was bigger, than it had looked like from the outside. The floor and the walls were laid out with carpets as the only means of decoration. There were also a lot of people, but John was tall enough to look above their heads. Sonic was just not sure, if either of them wanted to see this clearly, what was going on here.

The 'goods' were people. Through the room went several rows of wooden constructions, surrounded by low wooden fences with little doors in them in the front, over that John could step effortlessly. They seemed to be there to keep the people on a distance, not out.

The constructions were out of three logs: a longer, that stood vertically, embedded, for greater stability, in a very low wooden pedestal, that wasn't even high enough to be a full step in a flight of stairs, and two shorter logs, that had been nailed horizontally against the vertical one. And to each single one was tied a person. Their arms hung behind the top horizontal log and they were tied to it by the shoulders. Their ankles were tied to the bottom horizontal log, spread apart and balancing on the pedestal, that was too small to stand safely, leaving them open to all looks and touches. They had to hurt in mere minutes in that unnatural position and from standing on the unstable ground.

Sonic had a queasy feeling just seeing this from afar, although he wasn't so sure, if _he_ felt it, or John. It was probably both.

John looked around, apparently looking for Scourge, but it was hard to make out details of the bound people in the back.

Suddenly, John jerked, which caused the whole scene to jostle, too, when a voice, speaking a foreign language, suddenly sounded next to him.

The surroundings became clearer again, when he focused on a man looking up to him, since he was rather small.

He wore red robes, had tan skin and a thin black mustache. His dark eyes looked curious, but also distrustful. "I...er...I'm sorry?," John tried, Sonic felt sweat going down the human's back.

The man scrutinized him, before his face lit up. "Ah, you aren't from here, sir!," he stated happily, in perfect English.

"Y-yes, I-" _Shit, what had the cover story been?_, John thought desperately, while he stuttered.

Sonic resisted the urge to facepalm. John was definitely not a spy, that was quite clear. Thankfully, the man didn't need explanations. "Thank you for choosing our slave-shop, I know, that you had the choice among many. It's always an honor to welcome new guests!," he happily chattered away, apparently it was his job to get new clients to buy here.

"Is this your first time in a slave shop? I would be happy to explain everything!," the man offered politely.

"Yes...that would be nice.," John reluctantly agreed. "Perfect, follow me!," the man chirped and quickly went to the first row, with John following, who didn't need to hurry so much, since his legs were longer.

"Here are the slaves, that we are going to sell. If you are interested in one of the slaves, you can, for a small fee, step behind the fence to examine the desired slave. I'm afraid, you have to bid nonetheless for them. While examining, you should try to keep the slave undamaged – damaging it on purpose will result in you not being able to attend the auction."

"I understand!," John quickly agreed, if only to get the other to stop talking about the topic. "Thank you. You are by the way allowed to examine ALL areas of the slaves, we would just ask you to not penetrate in any way, just in case. Wasting money on medication for slaves is something we try to spare our clients from.," the man explained with a neutral voice, making poor John even more uncomfortable.

Sonic wasn't so sure, if the bile rising in his throat was his, or John's. "S-sure...," the man stuttered.

"Thank you. Next to each slave stands an information giver, he'll inform you about the most important details of each slave, like origin, age, training, etc. Of course, you can always ask for more than just the basics, our information givers are all very well informed. Now, we separate the slaves in two categories. Right in the front are the green marked slaves."

The man pointed to wooden signs in one corner of the fences each, informing about the worth of the slave. A green silky cloth was tied to the top of the sign, explaining the name of the category.

"Those are secondhand-slaves, their owners sold them.," he continued. _I better pretend to be interested, until the time is right. He might know, if Scourge is here._, John thought quickly, the thought process almost too fast for even the hero to catch it properly, before he asked, merely a second later, "Why?"

"Usually, slaves are bought for a certain reason. You know, work, servitude, company, a child..."

"A-a child?," John gasped. "Oh yes, you know, it's sometimes so hard to find a woman, who agrees with the...tastes of a man, so they buy a female slave as a mate. They never resist, after all. However, when they have done the deed, they are usually of no need anymore and get sold. The good thing is, that those secondhand-slaves are perfectly tame and obedient."

With a grin, the man pointed to one of the slaves, a female rabbit mobian, that couldn't be older than seventeen, tied to the construction, her head down and seemingly not caring, that two human men were holding one of her breasts each and squeezing and pulling them without limitations, while apparently fighting over how they found them.

By now, Sonic wondered, how John was still keeping his food down. That was a disgusting place.

"Er...w-what else do you have?," John managed to bring out. "Ah, I see, you are not satisfied with the second best! Please follow me into the yellow section!," the – by now disturbingly – happy man beamed and led John between two slaves, whom the young man didn't even spare a glance, which was probably for the best, to another few rows, where there were only yellow cloths around the signs, that were showing higher prices, too.

"These are fresh slaves, mostly virgins, too, just from the streets. They are unused, but trained for the basics: reading, cooking, cleaning, dancing and obeying. The last row also in pleasuring, if you are interested in that. Of course, we can always teach them another desired skill, if you wish."

"A-ah...," John stammered and Sonic felt, how the man heated up. _Someone, bring me back to the Island, that's a thousand times better than that!_, he begged in his head.

Sonic tsked. "Yeah, right.," he thought, although the feeling became gradually mutual. _Anything_ was better, than that.

The young human cleared his throat. "I...er...I'm...actually...l-looking for s-something...s-special, you know?," he forced out. The man frowned for the first time, since he had met John.

"Special?," he asked, a strange tone to his voice. As if he already had a clue, about what he was talking...

"Yeah.," John replied, growing confident. "You know, those, they are just...boring.," he almost squeaked out, gesturing lamely towards the rows in front of him. Thankfully, the background noises covered the tone up, since the other listened intently, his face showing only interest.

_Oh, Chaos, I'm sounding like my father!_, the young man thought, but forced himself to press on, apparently trying his best to copy his father further. "I mean, I got those slaves for my birthday and they fought with everything they had against me, until I broke them – and let me tell you this, I enjoyed every second of breaking them. What's so funny about perfectly obedient slaves?," he asked, almost sounding completely uncaringly.

_I'm going to wash out my mouth with a soap bar, when this is over._, John thought, while the gears of the other turned and an even more disturbing smirk made its way on his face.

"Ahhh, if you would follow me?," the man asked with a bow and led the surprised John to another pair of curtains.

He pushed one aside and revealed a wooden door behind it. The man opened it and led John into a small office. The desk, with surprisingly modern equipment on the top of it, took almost all the space.

"Please, take a seat.," the human offered, pointing to a cushioned, luxurious chair in front of it, while closing the door, going behind the desk and taking a seat, too. He looked at John with nothing but professionalism, the happy mask from outside the office was gone. Now, there was only the calculating head of this place left.

"I get, what you are looking for, but that is a little complicated, Mr...?" "Perringten." _For once, having this name is a blessing._

"Perringten?," the man repeated thoughtfully. "I know this name..." He turned away and started to dig through a drawer.

John started to sweat again. _Oh, crap._ "Th-that was just...!" _Just my father trying to destroy the world. Yeah, that'll come over smoothly._, he thought sarcastically.

"Here we have it.," the man said, straightening and holding a dusty file, which confused John – and his audience – quite a bit. He opened it, quickly scanning the few papers inside it.

"Ah, yes, our records are very detailed, we never forget a name. Your ancestor Eli Perringten had been very generous, we never had another client buying that much slaves in such a short time. He had a taste for our vast collection of hedgehogs."

_I bet_, John thought and said at the same time. "I sure hope, that you will try to best your ancestor.," the man said with good humor, but it didn't sound like a joke.

"We'll see.," John replied, feeling uncomfortable. When he noticed the loss of humor of the other, he quickly added, "I'm no one to just trust, what I haven't tried personally, so just one will have to do for a start." _You'll never see me again, asshole._

"Of course, please forgive my rudeness. My name is Liad, by the way." _Sounds almost like _liar_. I doubt, that it's a coincidence_, he thought, while they shook hands. _And I'm _so_ disinfecting my hand, when this is over._

"Now, Mister Perringten, my shop offers a broad spectrum of high qualitative slaves. Most of our assortment did you already see, but we do have a third, a blue category as well. This is the category of...imported slaves. You need to understand, that we try to satisfy all of our customers' wishes – even the hardly legal ones. The blue category is the most expensive one, too. We only show them to an exclusive group of people and please forgive my rudeness once more, but before I talk further, I need to affirm, that you are belonging to this group."

He pulled out a device, that could measure the amount on someone's account by reading out the debit card. "I hope you don't mind, but in my business, you quickly learn, that names and reputations are changing rather quickly."

"Of course.," John agreed, although Sonic could feel his confusion. He didn't understand this statement, but didn't question it. The scene shifted, as he bent to the side to reach for his wallet. He pulled out his brown leather wallet and opened it, looking down on the contents. Behind a transparent plastic case on the right was the picture of a woman. There was no doubt for Sonic, that this was Joanna.

She looked pretty much like John, the same hair and eye color. She held a bundle in her arms, that was without a doubt John as a newborn. She had apparently a happy smile on her face, but it was barely noticeable, because of the op-mask she wore in front of her mouth and nose.

This was, however, not the only sign of sickness. The hospital gown she wore was drenched in cold sweat around the collar and under the arms, just like her face and hair, her face was sickly pale and dark rings were under her eyes. Her arms, holding the bundle ever so gently, had dark spots on them, signs of decay. Her beautiful long hair seemed to have fallen out here and there, but it wasn't that noticeably, yet. As the photographer had apparently stood, while she had been sitting on her bed, it was more obvious, than when the one making the photo would have been on her eye level. It was probably the only picture John had of his mother, which was just sad.

John pulled out a plastic card, snapped his wallet shut and gave the card to Liad, who slid in in the bottom of his device. He looked at the screen and his jaw dropped open, while his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. Too bad, that Sonic couldn't see, just what amount was displayed there. It had to be quite a lot.

Fighting for composure, Liad pulled the card out again and returned it. "Please excuse my doubts, Mr. Perringten." He cleared his throat several times, before he could speak further. "As...you are...more than worthy, sir..." He cleared his throat again. "...I'll be more than happy to explain everything. We keep the blue category in a special room. I will lead you right to it, as soon, as the paperwork is done."

He slammed a surprisingly large stack of papers on the desk between them. "With signing these papers you agree to keep the blue category a secret and to never appear with a slave bought here in public outside of Saha. Of course, you can keep them also in your mansion."

"My mansion?," John repeated confused. Liad frowned. "The mansion your ancestor built. It is still empty.," he explained, distrust returning to his features.

"Ah. Oh, yes, you're right, I'm sorry, that has to be the jetlag. You see, I have so many mansions, that I just forget one or two sometimes.," John laughed sheepishly._ I SO need to research, what other mansions I_ forgot., he thought.

Liad seemed to believe him, thankfully. "Of course. Anyway, if you are to return to the lands outside of Saha, you can leave your slave – or slaves, of course – in our care. We keep them contained, fed and, if you wish, busy. You have of course our guarantee, that they won't be harmed, unless misbehaving."

"Good...to know.," John replied, while scanning the papers and signing countless bottom lines. He seemed used to reading contracts like these, he never lingered too long on one page, his eyes scanning the lines carefully, though.

Finally done – for what Sonic was thankful, since he got a headache from the mass of complicated words and phrases –, he gave the papers back.

Liad scanned them quickly as well, before stuffing them in the Perringten-file and stashing it away. "Thank you for your cooperation. Now, please, follow me."

He stood up, searching with his fingers something under the desk's top, before the wall opposite the door suddenly slid to the side, revealing a secret staircase.

Liad went to the staircase and John followed him. "You will be able to look at each slave as much as you like.," the older man began to explain, while they went deeper and deeper under the ground. Sonic felt, that the temperature dropped and noticed, that the air became stale.

"We offer a special auction for our clients interested in the blue category. It won't begin, until all customers sit in their seats. You were coming just right, I won't allow another person to enter the auction. Please don't let that worry you. I reassure you personally, that you aren't in a hurry. Take your time – and if there is something you need, aside of delicious snacks and an assortment of sweetest wines, that we'll offer for free, of course, just ask our personnel. They'll be happy to help."

"Sure.," John replied with polite interest. _I'll never be able to drink enough booze to forget this horrible place._

They reached a pair of closed blue curtains. "Please, after you.," Liad bowed and moved one of the curtains away. John thanked him with a nod, before entering cautiously.

Sonic's jaw dropped with John's. They definitely didn't lie about the 'blue' part.

The large room was lined with heavy dark blue curtains. Blue carpets softened the ground. Blue as well as red crystals were hanging from the ceiling, lining the room, their light illuminating the room. Sonic noticed, that the temperature was rather warm, almost too warm for him. A heavy scent of perfume hung in the air. It was a surprise, that there was still oxygen to breathe. A few figures – far less than upstairs – moved around the space. On the right was a row of light blue curtains, apparently hiding the slaves and possibly interested customers. Small wooden signs informed about what slave awaited them behind the curtains.

From the entrance, John – and Sonic – could read the first sign, being written in the language of Saha and English alike:

Female

Beaver mobian

~17 years old

orange fur color

homeless

"The auction will take place in the room to your left, further in the back. Allow me to help you find the perfect slave for y-" Liad, who had brought attention back to him, when he had started to speak, interrupted himself, when a strange noise came from his left, wide sleeve. He frowned and pulled out an almost antique walkie-talkie. He barked into the device in his mother tongue and received a hectic reply in the same language.

Liad sighed in defeat, replied something and put the device back. "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Perringten, but there is a small problem upstairs. I'll return as soon as possible."

"Take your time.," John waved after the quickly retreating man. _Run to the other side of the planet and you are still too close to me._

Shaking his head, John turned to go deeper in the room. He walked rather slow, but probably just to not raise suspicions. He looked at the signs, reading them quickly to not waste time – and as a consequence almost tripped over his clothes, when he reached a certain sign.

Male

Hedgehog mobian

~20 years old

green fur color

homeless

His heartbeat quickened. He wanted to enter the space behind the curtain next to the sign, when he noticed something next to it on the ground.

It was a bony human girl with long, unkempt dark brown hair. It pooled on the ground around her. She wore a rag, that looked like a potato sack with holes for her head and arms. It barely covered her thighs. She just sat on her knees on the ground, her hands limply on her lap, a collar around her neck with a leash attached to a small metal ring in the collar, her dark green eyes looking into nothing.

"Er...are you okay?," John carefully asked, confused of who this was and what she did down there.

The girl, who couldn't be much older than sixteen, didn't look up. "Please don't waste your time with this lowly slave.," she mumbled in a monotone voice.

"...Ah.," was all John could reply, feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed. Seeing though, that he could not help her, he went finally behind the curtain.

There, on a low pedestal, just a few steps away from him, were three persons. One was without a doubt the information giver, like upstairs, the second was for sure Scourge, he recognized his beloved leather jacket clothing the bound arms.

What had his jaw drop once more, however, was the third person. And he wasn't the only one. Fleetway and Sonic joined him.

In front of Scourge, with his back to John, stood another mobian hedgehog. He had bright yellow fur and his head quills stood straight, pointing to the sky. He wore a dark blue cape, expensive looking golden gloves and dark blue, strange looking shoes, whose tips were curled backwards. Besides the clothing, he looked like...Fleetway.

Sonic felt, that John's jaw was still dropped and his mind in turmoil, while his body slowly walked closer.

The information giver spotted him and quickly hurried down the small staircase, trying to get him to stop in his language, but John just pushed him away absentmindedly. His eyes were locked on the two hedgehogs the whole time.

When he finally reached the top of the pedestal, he could hear the light hedgehog talking with a voice, that was far different from Fleetway's, "...just beautiful. You'll be such a great addition to my collection, my Green Daisy.," he whispered almost lovingly.

At once, he grabbed Scourge's thigh, squeezing hard, causing the green uke to scream weakly and hoarsely, the sound letting John, Sonic and Fleetway jump in shock. "Mmm, love that sound.," the Fleetway-faker purred, leaning closer to the bound uke and nuzzling him, pretty much marking him with his scent, what Sonic and Fleetway realized more, than John. "Can't wait to bed you, you're for sure a great lay.," he continued, causing three sets of insides to freeze.

_That's it! I didn't get him off the Island to fall into...this!_, John thought, while Sonic suddenly noticed, that his surroundings started to darken, as if somebody or something was dimming the light, but it wasn't this late already in reality, was it?

He was ripped out of his musing by a sharp pain, that John suddenly felt in his palm and that he felt, too.

He looked up to see John's hand, that was suddenly surrounded by some kind of dark mist, buried in the yellow hedgehog's head quills, that he pulled harshly, effectively separating the two mobians, letting the yellow hedgehog fall on his butt.

"Hands off him!," he hissed at the male, who stared up at him with startled amber eyes, the next thing – aside the clothes and the voice – that differed him from Fleetway.

In the next second, he sneered hatefully at the young human. "How DARE you touch me!?," he snarled. "Don't you know, who I am? I am Prince the Hedgehog, King of Saha!," he shouted angrily.

To Sonic's surprise, John started to laugh, but it sounded cold and joyless. "So your name is 'King Prince'? Man, your parents really don't like you, do they?," he chuckled, belittling him.

The hedgehog stared at him, before turning beet red. "Do you have a death wish!? I am the mightiest person in all Saha! Everything here belongs to ME!," he screamed, jumping up, which didn't exactly help in trying to be intimidating, since John was still at least 50 centimeters taller.

John laughed a little louder at that. "You fool! Saha is nothing but a sandcastle in comparison to the rest of the world. And now guess, who owns the world outside your little walls – correct,_ me_! I'm the richest man in the world, you are shit in comparison to me!," he smirked evilly, bending down to touch noses with the smaller. Prince looked at him with hatred and Sonic could only guess, that John's glare equaled his. "I can do _whatever_ I want and there is _nothing_ you can do against it.," he whispered, a silent threat woven in his words.

The clearing of a throat let them turn around. Sonic blinked. Was this...another doppelganger? Clad in red robes, like all the employees here, stood Mephiles, who watched the scene with attentive green eyes.

"Hmph. Seems, as if _the richest man on Mobius_ has a problem with teaching his slaves manners.," Prince taunted.

Instantly, the surroundings became lighter again and John blinked rapidly. "My...slave?," he repeated, completely thrown off trail.

Prince smirked. "Here, that's how a real slave looks like.," he grinned and pointed to the side.

John turned to where he pointed. The girl from before slipped through the curtain, her head bowed and her face hidden behind her untidy hair. "You called for me?," she asked calmly.

Prince sneered. "Who gave you permission to speak!?," he screamed at her and before anyone could stop him, he had already raised his hand and slapped the girl, who was unfortunately not tall enough to avoid that fate, or make it at least more difficult, so hard, that she fell on the ground like a rag doll.

"Are y-," John wanted to rage, but something suddenly blocked his mouth, cutting him off, while forcing his arms to stay by his sides, not able to lift them to free himself from the sudden gag.

"See? That's how you handle a slave. Loser.," Prince smirked and turned to leave, not without a last look back to Scourge and a confident smirk, as if he already knew, who would have the last laugh.

The slave girl stood up word- and effortlessly and followed him, her hair and her leash dragging across the floor.

Once they were gone, the thing blocking his mouth and trapping his arms disappeared as quickly, as they had appeared. John still wiped his mouth, but found nothing there.

"Sir?," the information giver, who had watched the interaction of the two customers silently, since there hadn't been anything he could have done to interfere, spoke up. He had figured by now, that he needed to use English to communicate with John.

"I take it, that you want to inspect this slave?," he asked and pointed to Scourge, who just hung limply in his binds.

"I...er..." John looked between Scourge and Mephiles – if he was that, that is – who nodded subtly towards the pedestal. "Y-yes..."

With that, he turned around and went back to Scourge, who showed no signs of consciousness.

He climbed the steps, still confused about just what was happening here. A fake Fleetway, a fake Mephiles, this strange behavior of his...

He almost ran into Scourge due to being distracted with his thoughts, but managed to stop himself, before he actually could. He blinked and forced his confusion back, so that he could focus on the present. Thanks to their height difference, Scourge looked even smaller and worse off.

He jumped a little, when the information giver began to talk, having followed him silently. "This exemplar was caught just three days ago.," he started.

_Three..._ _Emma, Silver, a little earlier would have been nice!_, John thought angrily and for a second, the surroundings darkened again, but returned quickly to normal.

"He is actually quite a fighter, we needed to starve and dehydrate him a bit, before we could put a collar on him. Of course, he is still perfectly capable of working.," the information giver continued.

_How? He can obviously not even hold himself up!_ The surroundings darkened again, for a little longer this time, but eventually returned to normal once more.

"I...could you leave for a bit?," John asked, feeling worried about his unstable emotions now. If that guy would tell one more horrible detail about Scourge, he would probably strangle him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but that is impossible, I'm not allowed to leave clients with the merchandise.," the man replied wit a bow, but another gesture of his told a different story: He held out his hand, wanting a payment for his leaving. John crinkled his nose in disgust, but forked over a few banknotes – that were worth a hundred rings each – to get the man away from him. "Pleasure to make business with you, sir. You have ten minutes." And with that, he left.

"I really hope, that this 'Prince' didn't do the same.," John muttered, once the other had left the confined room. He turned to Scourge and got down on one knee to be closer to his eye level.

"Scourge? Scourge, can you hear me?," he tried to reach the limp hedgehog, but he got no reaction.

Hesitantly, he reached out and carefully touched his cheek, pulling his hand back almost instantly, when he felt the heat under his fingertips.

"He is bad off, huh?," a voice asked suddenly next to John and he whipped around to see the Mephiles-lookalike next to him.

"M-Mephiles?," John asked carefully. "No, I am not Mephiles.," the other replied calmly. "Fantastic. First this crazy place, then the Fleetway-wannabe, now you and those mood swings of mine – what comes n- HMPH!"

Once more, something laid itself over his lips, stopping him from ranting more. His arms were free this time and he reached immediately up, trying to remove the something, but found nothing there. As if his lips were glued together... "Careful, human, or I keep your mouth sealed for a day.," the dark furred being threatened. "I am NOT Mephiles, I'm a part of him."

He let go whatever was blocking John's mouth and the male looked the mobian up and down. "...Which part?," he finally asked.

The mobian facepalmed and groaned in annoyance. "A _body cell_, human. The original Mephiles doesn't have time to come, so he created me to come here and support you."

"He doesn't have time!? What could possibly be more important than saving his mate's friend?," John asked incredulously.

"We aren't playing Twenty Questions here, human.," the Mephiles-doppelganger replied, growling.

"Okay, okay. So, can you get us out of here?," John quickly caved. The being sighed and shook his head.

"I'm afraid, no." "What? Aren't you able to do the same as Mephiles?," John asked confused.

"In theory, I am, but he didn't know about those crystals they use here." "The blue and red ones?," John asked, remembering the strange decoration apparently as much, as Sonic did.

"Indeed. They are apparently generating warmth and oxygen. But they also give out an energy, that is blocking off mine. I'm afraid, as long as we are in those walls, I'm having very limited abilities.," the lookalike explained, gritting his teeth.

"Ah.," John nodded in understanding. "So we can't just take him. We need to buy him to free him.," he muttered, hating the idea already.

A silent groan let both turn around to Scourge. The green furred male attempted to straighten, but the leg, that Prince had previously gripped, seemed to hurt too much to succeed. At least it wasn't bleeding, but it would for sure bruise.

"Scourge!," John exclaimed, a little too unexpected for the poor uke, who flinched back and bumped against the wooden construction, hissing in pain. John winced in sympathy. "Sorry."

He slowly came a little closer, trying to catch the mobian's glare. "Scourge, can you hear me?," John asked silently and finally, the light blue eyes opened to look at him. Or at least, they tried. He blinked several times, nothing but confusion in his eyes. "Don't you recognize me? It's me, John!," the young human pretty much begged. Scourge's ears twitched upon hearing the name and he frowned in concentration, blinking again, but this time trying to clear his vision.

"What happened to your hair?," he asked, a bit of surprise in his hoarse voice. John smirked weakly. "Doesn't matter. Listen, you need to hold on just a little longer, okay? I'll buy you and you'll be free."

To his surprise, the hedgehog shook his head. "Don't. I know, what they pay here. I'd never be able to repay you.," he whispered.

John paused. "Are you stupid?," he finally asked, making Scourge look up to him again. "Do you think, I did THIS to my beautiful person," he pointed to his hair, "and came into this hellhole because I want you – or anyone – to repay me? I'm here, because I want to help you! I don't even expect a thank you, okay? Just wait for a little while, I have freed you in no time."

Scourge just stared at him, before he hung his head in defeat. "Say, earlier...was there..." He paused, frowning. "No, forget it, I must be seeing things." He exhaled. "This isn't, what I promised.," he mumbled, before passing out again.

Sonic's heart beat hard, when he heard that. While John tried unsuccessfully to rouse the male again, he remembered, just what promise he meant.

He had last seen Scourge about two years ago, shortly before he had disappeared overnight from his house. Back then, he had wanted to make sure, that the Gamma had been recovering well, but he had felt, that Scourge had been antsy to leave.

"I want to run. Be free. Just...finding myself. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I promised myself to never be indebted again by anyone.," he had said with a confident smirk.

Seemed, as if he hadn't been able to hold that promise. Even if John didn't want anything in return for the rescue, it didn't change the fact, that he was in his debt. He had had to feel so tiny and weak in this situation.

John had just given up on trying to wake Scourge again, when the hero looked up once more, and was standing up. "Let's get this auction started.," he growled and moved off the pedestal, although he was reluctant to leave the uke alone again.

"Whatever you say...Master.," the Mephiles-lookalike replied from behind him, while audibly following him.

John almost stumbled down the stairs, when he heard that. "M-master?," he stuttered, turning around to the being. "We need a good explanation, why I am here, don't we?," the being shrugged. Sonic had the feeling, that he knew now, what 'little problem' had driven Liad away earlier ...and whose clothes Mephiles was wearing there.

"Sure...," John replied reluctantly. He wasn't exactly keen on having a slave at all, Sonic could feel his resistance, but he also knew, that they had no other option.

They left the curtains, the fake Mephiles following after him, and went to the auction room, where thankfully everyone was already gathered. The – also blue kept – room was parted in half by a stage in the back. In the other half were ten seats in two straight rows.

Prince was also there, sitting in the outer left seat in the first row, using the slave girl as his footstool. The only free seat was the outer right one in the front row, so John had to go past him to reach it. Clearly not happy about it, he walked quickly around him and to the seat, not looking once in his direction.

The sound of a whip being used behind him let him turn around, however, to see a welt on the second Mephiles' face, who looked rather startled, and Prince smirking, the whip in question in his hand. "Oh, my bad, my hand must have slipped.," Prince gasped in fake shock.

"You-" The surroundings started to darken again, when the second Mephiles spoke up. "I'm sorry for allowing another to punish me, Master." He spoke in a monotone voice, as if he had said that so often, that it just got stuck in his brain, yet, he had no feelings connected to the sentence. Instantly, the surroundings became light once more.

"Er...let's go.," John decided, to avoid a confrontation and lose time, and he quickly made his way over to the free seat.

The Mephiles-copy just followed and came to a stand next to him, looking like a more or less obedient slave waiting for orders.

John bent over to him. "Are you okay?," he whispered, concerned. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't created to feel pain.," came the neutral, silent reply.

John looked at the welt going over his left eye. "That will for sure scar..." "It doesn't matter.," the dark being shrugged. "I won't live to see the next day anyway."

"H-huh!?," John gasped. "Mephiles didn't create me, because he wished for a twin brother. I'm a mere temporal replacement for him. I'll disappear in approximately five hours. Let's hope, that everything works out quickly.," the being shrugged. It was apparently not created to wish for a longer life, just to function.

John swallowed dryly, and turned his attention rather forwards, where two men in red robes just stepped on the stage.

They both started talking at the same time, one in the language of Saha, the other in English, which made it a bit difficult to listen, but John managed it. Thankfully, they didn't use microphones, which would have echoed horribly in the rather small room.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to this exclusive auction. Please wait with your first bid, until the auctioneer asks for it. Also, don't refer to any kind of violence to get the goods you are interested in. Just try to outbid the other clients – and if you fail, there might always be another slave you might like.," they added playfully, causing chuckles going through the mass, that John didn't join. "Please enjoy your time here, thank you!"

They both ended at the same time, turning to face each other, gesturing to the back of the stage, from that came just a young female rat mobian, getting dragged in by two strong looking men, her thin arms trapped between their bulky muscles and armlets. She looked rather numb, maybe even sedated, or drugged. In any way, she didn't put up a fight at all. It was hard to say, if she was even conscious.

"Here we have offering number one, Bella!," the two moderators introduced her, with faked data, no doubt. While they went on with describing, where she came from and what she could be used for, a third man, carrying a small, high table, came on the stage to stand to the left, but still visibly for the whole audience.

The moderators were finally done and the man behind the table hit the wooden surface with a small wooden hammer to get their attention. He started to speak and the English speaking man translated his words immediately. "We will begin now our auction. We will start with 2000 rings!"

Saha had apparently a different currency, since the auctioneer was holding up three fingers, not two. The translator seemed to know that and had changed the currency accordingly. Then again, who knew, what the auctioneer started with? It could be 3 rings – well, the equivalence of 3 rings – for all he knew.

Prince was among the bidders, bidding in his mother tongue and eventually purchasing the girl, who got dragged off again.

The auctioneer handed a lightly clothed girl appearing in front of the stage a slip of paper, that she gave Prince, while the man explained in a routinized voice, together with the translator for the foreign guests to know, that he could already go and get his slave next to the auction, or wait for the end of it to try and purchase more. _At least I'll be out of here quickly._, John thought sarcastically.

"And here comes number two!," the moderators explained and thankfully – or not – it was Scourge. The poor uke had been tied to the same construction as before, that got wheeled in on a board with small wheels. Apparently, his quills had made this measure necessary. They seemed quite routinized with handling spiny mobians.

"Here we have Speedy the Hedgehog, in his early twenties, picked from the streets for your desire and entertainment! See it as a little game – I'm sure you have all heard of the uke-mystery! Who knows, maybe you'll purchase one of those rare specimens today!"

John looked quickly over to Prince, who had bent forwards in his seat and was licking his lips, desire clearly noticeably in his eyes, even more than before.

"To top it off – Speedy here has a special skill, the gift of speed! You can lock him in your lions' den and watch him avoid your hungry pets for hours!" Another short look around the audience told John, that having a lion's den was apparently something, that many of the others had, since no one seemed surprised or confused to hear that. A few, like the tiger mobian next to him, just seemed disappointed, that they apparently didn't have one, yet.

The auctioneer said something, for sure giving the start signal for the bidding, but before the translator had the chance to interpret, Prince had already jumped on the slave girl's back and screamed something, that had all people either gasp, go silent, or pale.

The interpreter, who belong to the third category, somehow found his voice again and croaked, "His m-majesty is bidding with t-ten million r-rings...".

Judging by the reactions of the others, this was apparently more, than a slave was worth usually. That was also most likely more, than anyone was willing to spend. Well, anyone, but one.

"Twenty million!," John shouted, jumping up. The interpreter swallowed and quickly translated the sum to the auctioneer, whose eyes widened, too, but he went to seal the deal, until Prince interrupted him. "Thirty million!" He seemed to use English on purpose, so John would hear directly, that he was out-bidden. "Forty million!," John shouted right back.

* * *

This went on for quite a while. In no time, John and Prince were screaming at each other, rather than at the auctioneer, giving the translator barely no time to translate, the price for Scourge – his life and whole being – climbing endlessly up. Sonic was just glad, that Scourge was too far gone to witness it.

_This can't go on forever! We lose time!_, John thought desperately. It was impossible for him to say, just how much time they lost with bidding and glaring already.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. The slave girl, on whose back Prince had been standing all the time, suddenly raised quickly to just sitting on her knees, which caused the completely unprepared hedgehog to fall off her and on the ground.

John stared with his jaw slack, until the translator's voice reminded him, that Prince was about to buy Scourge, as his bid had been the last one, so he quickly called, "740 million!", out-bidding the other, before observing the scene further.

Prince was trying to scramble on his feet, but he got tangled in his cape and before he had the chance to even sit up properly, the girl, who was looking with her deep green eyes in John's the whole time, balled her bony fist, swung it and landed it – directly in her master's crotch.

Prince yelled in pain, curling himself up on instinct and all males watching winced, as they pretty much felt his pain, but nobody went to help him. If it was forbidden to touch him, as he was part of the royalty here, or if they feared his wrath, if they got too close too soon, John didn't know.

He jumped, when the girl from before held the slip of paper under his eyes. "Er...thanks." He grabbed the piece of paper, before returning his attention back to the slave girl, who smiled at him with such a happy expression, as if him buying Scourge had been her biggest wish ever, that he just fulfilled. She was completely unaware of Prince straightening behind her like a looming shadow.

John wanted to do something – not sure, what exactly he COULD do – when the Mephiles-copy grabbed his arm and they found themselves suddenly outside the auction-room, without having done a single step.

"Wait, I need to-" He interrupted himself, when the second Mephiles sank to his knees, holding onto John's sleeve like a lifeline. "What's wrong?," the young human asked, worried.

"My strength is waning exponentially. We need to hurry.," the second Mephiles growled lowly, his grip slacking and falling from his sleeve.

"O-of course!," John gasped and looked around frantically, trying to find the place, where he could pick up Scourge.

Sonic frowned. He didn't know exactly, what 'exponentially' meant, but when Tails used this term, then it was either an explanation for an explosion, that happened far too often in their home – or, if it came to a fight against Eggman, a reason to panic and/or to hurry.

"There!," John gasped and raced over to a stand with a smiling, friendly looking human behind it, not at all affected by the hurry of his customer.

"Hi, I'd like to get my slave. Quick, please.," he greeted, placing the slip of paper, that only contained a number – probably an ID Scourge had gotten – and the amount of money he had purchased Scourge with, on the counter. He was apparently also getting, that they were running out of time here.

"Of course, sir. Please transfer the amount, now.," the man replied, placing a device between them, that allowed it to pay with a debit card. It was too big to hold it with one hand, so the man would always be able to see the amount typed in. Not caring about it, John stuffed his card in the slit and quickly typed in the necessary digits, smashing the zero so often, that he was actually giving more than seven billion rings, and therefore far more, than he had really bought Scourge with before, but the man didn't seem to think, that it was necessary to tell him.

John hit the enter-button and drummed his fingers impatiently. "Thank you for your gracious investment. One moment, please.," the man said politely and vanished behind a pair of curtains.

John sighed and still drummed his fingers on the wooden board between the man and him in a weak try of calming down. He turned to the second Mephiles. "How long?," he asked in a low voice. "Thirty minutes, if we're lucky."

"Fantastic.," John grumbled, looking over to where the slave girl from earlier was. Now, that he wasn't distracted as much anymore, he could hear the sound of a whip being used relentlessly, without a doubt on the girl. Yet, the only one screaming was Prince, the girl was silent, which added up to John's worry. "Can't we help her?," he asked sorrowfully, feelings of guilt filling his heart and joining the worry.

"Either the hedgehog, or the human. You can't save them both.," the Mephiles-doppelganger replied neutrally.

John bit his lip._ Is that, how a hero has to live? Deciding, who has to die and who may live? Chaos, I'm not envying Sonic anymore, promise._, he thought.

Sonic frowned. It wasn't like that. It wasn't, like he played God, or anything. He tried to save everyone, end of story. Of course, sometimes, there were situations, when he needed to decide, who he saved first, but that only rarely resulted in the second (third, etc.) to save person dying... If someone died under his watch, then because he had been too slow. Not, because he had decided accordingly.

A strangled scream let him jump and whirl around to the curtains, from that emerged the man, with a tightly tied up Scourge over his shoulder, placing him on the counter like a piece of meat. The hedgehog was writhing in obvious pain and trying to curl up, but the ropes were preventing most movements.

"Here you go. As it's customary, we injected him with a small dose of snake's poison to paralyze him. Here is the antidote to apply whenever you see fit.," the man explained, handing him a small vial with a clear liquid, that John took, his mind completely blank in shock.

_They...poisoned him? They... poisoned him. They fucking dared to poison HIM!?_ At once, his hand shot out, grabbing the grinning man's throat and squeezing it, which wiped his face immediately clean of that smirk.

"What did you do to him!?," he hissed. The surroundings were now darker than ever. A hand grabbed him and pulled him back, letting him lose his grip. The man coughed, while the surroundings turned lighter again, but not completely to what Sonic considered as 'normal' by now.

"We need to leave, _now_.," the second Mephiles told him. John growled lightly, but agreed. Carefully, he picked up Scourge, flinching, when the male groaned silently in pain. Making sure, that he wouldn't fall out of his arms, John straightened and they went quickly to the exit, trying not to raise suspicion.

Sonic could feel John's heart drumming in his chest like a bird trying to escape. His adrenaline was probably going through the roof right now.

Upstairs, the room with the slaves was empty and sounds of the other auction, probably just beginning, were audible next to them.

"Let's take a shortcut.," the second Mephiles spoke up and a hole, big enough to fit them through, broke itself through the wall to their right, leading directly to a side alley.

Vaguely, John could see several of the poor mobians and humans fleeing from sight, for sure scared by what they had witnessed.

"I should be able to use all of my powers again outside the building. I won't be able to perform miracles, though.," the second Mephiles explained. John's glare wandered to the top corners, where he spotted more crystals, which explained, why the male wanted to leave this place.

"Stop right there!," a voice shouted and he quickly turned around to see a heavily panting Prince standing in the door frame of Liad's office. His front was dirtied with thin splatters of blood, that was for sure not his. His face was contorted in rage.

"You little shit! How dare you take my property!?," he hissed and swung his blood dripping whip, the tip aiming for Scourge, but with reflexes, that neither he, nor Sonic, knew he had, John caught the tip with one hand, balancing the hedgehog on one arm. His hand, whose palm got cut by the tip and dripped with blood, that slid down the weapon, glowed in black, the surroundings darker than ever before.

Prince, who had for sure not expected such quick reactions either, just stared with his jaw slack. John held the whip a little tighter and pulled it, ripping it out of Prince's hand and throwing it to the ground.

"Your property?," he hissed, actually making the light male flinch from the coldness in his voice. "You call him your _property_?"

Slowly, John closed the gap – that Prince for sure wished to be larger – between them, reminding Sonic a bit of a predator closing in on its prey.

"How about I make you MY property?," he growled with a dangerous voice, that had the mobian back off. "If I see you once more in my or his range, you will wish, that you had never been born. Did I make myself clear?," he snarled. With wide eyes, the royal nodded, trembling.

"You better.," John growled warningly and turned on his heel, marching out. Unlike all the other times, he wasn't confused at all by his behavior – and the surroundings stayed dark, not returning in the slightest to normal.

He and the Mephiles-doppelganger stepped out, with the latter closing the hole in the wall. He then turned to John. "I can transport only one of you – but not to my original, I'm afraid, that's too far.," he reported his current limits.

"Do you know, where the airport is here?," John asked, not even having to think about it for a second.

The eyes of the doppelganger flashed violet. "I do now.," he explained. "Perfect." Carefully, John placed the silently whimpering Scourge on his arms, placing the vial with the antidote on his chest. "Bring the two of you to the airport, there stands a private jet of mine. Kylie's on board, with medical equipment. Tell her, that he was poisoned and give her the antidote. I leave it to her to decide, when to take off. If he's too bad off, she shall tell the pilot to take off already, I'll find a way to come after them later." "Understood.," the male nodded and disappeared.

John let out a deep breath, the darkness finally disappearing again, but he didn't seem to mind or notice it.

Sonic saw Kylie moving, for sure wanting to stop the memory here, but he gestured for her to let it be and she complied. He had an idea of what he would see next.

_Alright, what was the way to the airport again?_, John asked himself thoughtfully, while walking through the crowded market place.

As he was pretty tall, even taller than most humans walking around here, he noticed the big stone construction, that looked like the lower part of a small pyramid, with the middle and top part missing, right away. It looked, as if someone had started to build a mini-pyramid and lost interest after a while and instead created the city around it. John could see several people in wide, black clothes, wearing hoods, that hid their faces completely, walk around up there.

_Strange, wonder what's that about. I definitely didn't see this thing on my way here...right?_, he thought, while looking around and finally approaching a coyote mobian, who apparently owned the restaurant he stood in front of, exotic scents invaded Sonic's – and therefore apparently also John's – nose the closer he came.

The coyote looked up, when he saw him approach, smiling and greeting him in Saha's language. "Er...do you speak English?," he asked carefully, figuring, that the people working here probably knew some other languages to communicate with the international customers.

"A little, sir. May I help you?," the coyote replied with a heavy accent. "Do you know, what is happening here?," John asked, pointing to the stone stage. "Oh yes, that's one of the attractions of Saha."

"So, some kind of show?," John wondered. "Indeed." "Okay..." John watched the black clothed people moving on the stage, putting wooden blocks there, that had the same distance to each other and that gave Sonic a vague idea of how exactly the slaves were going to be executed.

John on the other hand seemed still unconcerned and Sonic would have loved to shake him and to scream at him to do something – but he knew more than John did back then, so he watched further silently.

John looked at the wood pieces and narrowed his eyes. Sonic did so, too, and quickly spotted a dried red fluid coating the top and the sides of the wood.

"Er...for what are those wooden things?," he asked, feeling distrust grow inside of himself. "For the highlight of the show.," came the reply.

"Ah.," John replied, when music started to play out of speakers hanging from houses around the stage and a dozen females appeared on the stage, starting to perform a belly dance. Their movements – and their rather revealing, matching outfits – had attracted a large crowd, that forced John to stay close to the coyote mobian, unless he would use his elbows and force his way through. John rather looked over the crowd, apparently looking for a way out and to the airport.

His eyes slid back towards the stage, when the music changed to something less happy and light and he watched, how the girls hurried off the stone and people in chains were led on the stage.

Sonic recognized Veit, looking far more pale, thin and dirty, than he did now. He wore rags and the chain connecting his metal collar and held by the one leading him was completely slack, he walked like a docile pet to his death.

He also saw Tebian, who needed to be dragged by two men because of the fight he put up. He had been beaten up visibly, sporting a black eye and many bruises under his, thinner than it should be, fur.

John watched with a sinking feeling in his stomach, how they were forced to their knees in front of a wooden block each, the people doing so apparently not caring, how willingly (or in Tebian's case – unwillingly) the slaves would have obeyed an order to do so.

"W-what is happening there!?," he asked, actually grabbing the coyote's robes and shaking him. "Th-the highlight of the show, the execution of slaves.," the male stuttered.

John's eyes widened. "WHAT!?," he shouted and whipped around to see the black clothed people, that he now recognized as executioners, getting in position with a sword in hand each, for sure intending on killing the dozen slaves in one synchronous movement.

John's hands balled to fists. Dark swirls started to dance across his vision, but didn't seem to bother him. He made his way through the crowd, the people in front of him jumping to the side with startled yelps and Sonic noticed strange, black flames on the places, where John had touched them to push them out of his way.

Before he had reached the stage, the people in the front rows had already moved to the side, forming a passage, watching him with wide eyes. He walked up the stairs swiftly, startling the executioners with his sudden appearance. "Leave them alone!," he hissed dangerously and Sonic was for just a second convinced, that they were looking through the eyes of someone else. This wasn't John, was he? The John he knew would have freaked out upon seeing the dried blood of all nuances from red to black coating the stage, which hadn't been visible from the ground.

The executioners gesticulated wildly, while blubbering in their language, that turned suddenly to English, pretty much in mid-sentence. "-rupting a sacred ritual! How dare you!?," the executioner in the front raged.

John's face was pulled in half, when he smirked coldly. "'Sacred ritual'? Please. This is public slaughtering." It was strange, the English version seemed to be spoken, while John's lips formed noticeably – for his all-feeling audience – different words and over the known language, Sonic heard John talk in the same language as the others, that he hadn't been able to understand – much less _speak_ – in the slightest just minutes ago. Just...how?

The executioner seemed angry, but was still wearing his hood, that had two small holes for the eyes, as he saw now from up close, so it was hard to say, what he felt right now. "You know _nothing_ of Saha's traditions and values!," he hissed, again in perfect English.

"Oh, I think I do. I wish to purchase those slaves.," John replied just like before in this two-language-speech, pointing to the still kneeling slaves, who didn't look up, just staring at the dried blood.

Only Tebian fought against his kneeling position, but two of the executioners holding him down with their hands on his shoulders kept him in his position.

"Impossible! They weren't sold and one of them is a criminal, they aren't for sale, that's against the laws!," the man protested immediately. John didn't even hesitate. "What about 10 billion rings?," he offered easily. "Sir, no sum can change the fact, that it's ille-" "Ten billion rings for each slave.," John rephrased, sounding bored and actually briefly examining his nails, as if finding the right price was the only thing between him and the purchasing of the slaves.

The executioners exchanged a glare, although they technically didn't see the others' faces. "I-it's still...still illegal...," the man in the front tried to stay strong, but his resistance was waning fast. "I'm not a citizen of this city, I'm not bound by its laws. And if you're clever and leave the kingdom today, you have nothing to fear.," John shrugged lightly.

That did the trick. The man sighed and waved with his arm, causing the others to force the slaves and Tebian up, keeping the red furred seme restrained at the same time. The remaining man watched John, who pulled out a checkbook Sonic didn't know he had, counted the slaves and Tebian theatrically and then wrote 120 billion rings on the paper, ripping it out and giving it to the man.

He went to grab it, but John pulled the sheet away at the last second. "The chains, if you please.," he requested with a silky voice.

The cuffs and collars were quickly removed. In their hurry, the men forgot about the red furred seme and he took the opening immediately.

He punched the one freeing him and wanted to jump on John, but he was quick – too quick for a human, actually – to catch him by the throat and to pull him close to himself. "If you want to live, I suggest, that you keep it down a bit, until we are out of this country. Just relax and show me the way to the airport and we'll be out of here in no time.," he whispered under his breath, just for the mobian to hear.

Tebian hesitated, before he reluctantly relaxed, showing his surrender to the executioners and his agreeing to John's suggestion.

Slowly, John let him down and the seme stayed still, pretending to be tamed. Seeing the surprise of the watching men, he smirked. "You have your ways, I have mine. Let's go.," he ordered Tebian, who balled his fists, but moved, turning around, crossing the stage and descending the stairs there, the slaves following him in two rows with John taking the rear. He could see, that Veit was switching between walking next to and directly behind Tebian, apparently unsure of his limits under this new master.

John reached the other end of the stage and saw, that the crowd had parted, just like on the other side. "Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen.," he told the executioners without turning around and flicked the check over his shoulder, grinning at the fighting noises he heard behind him, while he descended the stairs.

* * *

Saha was either not a big place, or John hadn't strayed that far away from the airport. Either way, the journey took only about five minutes, the slaves keeping step all the time, never faltering, while Tebian sometimes walked a bit slower and looked then over his shoulder, trying to measure John and his intentions. Unknown to him, John was pretty much doing the same behind his strained poker face.

The surroundings were lighter again, the dark swirls gone and John's mind back to normal, but he remembered everything, that had happened...which confused him quite a bit.

_Merciful mother of Chaos – what WAS that!? Why the hell did I buy slaves and a criminal!? Am I nuts!? And WHY did I even step on this stage? What is WRONG with me!? What the hell do I do with those? I can't keep them here, can I? Please, let Kylie still be there, I need help with that...them!_

Thankfully, the arrival at the airport distracted him a little. Looking around, he shepherded his entourage to a plane standing on the field, that had its door open.

Without resistance – besides Tebian's, although that was rather small – the mobians and John went in, right in a spacey cabin with several soft sofas and single seats. "Er...take a seat. I'll be right back.," he said, talking only in English now. Surprisingly enough, the slaves seemed to understand him still, at least more or less – they sat on the ground, while Tebian, as if to defy his orders, sat on a seat. Sonic noticed Veit kneeling next to him and looking up at him with worry, as if he expected a punishment for the seme.

"Okay...," John mumbled, for now satisfied with the outcome, and went through the door at the other side of the room, stepping into a makeshift hospital wing with Kylie sitting next to the only bed. A scent of antiseptic stung Sonic's nose.

On the bed was a trembling lump, buried under several blankets. Kylie looked up, when she heard the door and showed a small smile.

"Hey.," she greeted, her voice soft. At once, a red furred head popped out from behind her and Sonic recognized Happy, who had been hidden by Kylie. He looked at John, worried, before smiling, apparently content with his patient's condition.

"Hey.," John repeated, also whispering, and carefully went closer. "How is he?," he asked, looking to the lump. Being closer, he could see green, raised quills poking out, at times through a hole ripped in the fabric. Shivers went through his body without stopping. "He's fighting the poison well so far. He should be in Healing slumber, but I guess, he still knows unconsciously, that he is in Saha.," Kylie replied.

"What happened?," she asked, turning to him. "I..." Sonic could pretty much feel John's mind shut down, blocking all recent memories. "I...can't tell.," he managed to say.

Kylie looked at him and seemed to understand him, she just nodded. "So, we should take off?," John asked, slowly, changing the topic.

"As soon as possible.," Kylie agreed. "Okay... Hey, where's Mephiles?," he asked. "Well, his time was up.," Happy said, walking around Kylie and pointing to the ground between the two humans, where there was a huge dark spot on the red carpet, looking like spilled ink.

"...Oh. Er, I'll go fetch the pilot.," John stammered, but Sonic felt the small burst of sadness appearing and disappearing just as quickly. "Yeah, do that.," Kylie nodded. "Okay. There's just...a little something...," John started sheepishly, waving for her to follow him to the door he had come through, where there was a porthole in it.

Kylie followed him, looking through the window, seeing the slaves and Tebian there. Slowly, she straightened and turned to him. "What did you do?," she asked surprised. "Er..."

* * *

There, the memory ended, the surroundings fading back to the room they were in. "Well, John had no answer to that, either, that's why I asked Mephiles for advice and he made a copy of the memory of his.," Kylie explained, the orb shrinking again and Mephiles appeared wordlessly next to the woman again to collect it in.

"Just what was wrong with John? This wasn't him at all!," Sonic had to ask. "True.," Mephiles answered for Kylie, sitting in the air like in a chair, one leg over the other.

"His family tried the foolishness of creating Chaos Emeralds. The result were Chaos Emeralds out of Dark Chaos Energy. And John came in contact with it."

"And that's bad?," Sonic asked. He himself had had contact with that stuff – if you wanted to call being pierced by a fist surrounded by that energy 'contact' –, but it had been simply painful, nothing else. It had most certainly not turned him into a mean person.

"If the contact is only indirect, not immediately. However, the longer someone, who isn't used to this, is in indirect contact with it, the more of the Dark Chaos Energy stores itself in the body. On one side, it's beneficial, it heightens all natural abilities and all already learned skills, like strength, reflexes, knowledge, intelligence..." Well, that explained, how John had learned the foreign language so fast.

"The problem is its influence on the mind and character. Those, who come in too close or too much contact with the Dark Chaos Energy, turn slowly into complete assholes, before turning to monsters."

"Monsters?," Sonic repeated. "Buying those slaves had been the humane thing to do. He could have, however, also just grabbed one of the swords and slaughtered the executioners to save the slaves. He had just enough sense to choose the right way."

"Can't remember, that I had such negative feelings...," Sonic started thoughtfully. Then again, he had been fighting to stay alive, everything else had been unimportant back then.

"Be thankful to that girl, she apparently cleaned you off the Chaos Energy, before it could harm your mind.," Mephiles replied.

"You saw, what happened back then?," Sonic asked, curiously. "What happened before and after this disgusting light appeared, yes. I don't know, what this girl did, but she and you were the only ones in that light, so it's safe to say, that she had something to do with you getting rid of the energy."

Sonic nodded in thought. That didn't exactly help explaining those giant Chaos Emeralds. "And how did this strange energy start working?," he asked. From what he saw, John had started it randomly, just out of rage.

"Fear, insecurity. He was overwhelmed by the whole situation and unknowingly fed his store of Dark Chaos Energy, which took over eventually. At first, he fought it off, but then he got used to the power and gave it out constantly, which I noticed of course and removed swiftly."

"I see, thank you.," Sonic grinned, relieved, that his friend was safe. Mephiles just shrugged and disappeared, not caring about his gratitude.

"Is that...why he drinks? And runs?," Fleetway asked silently. Sonic turned to him and his eyes widened. Fleetway knelt on the ground, his fists balled and resting next to him on the ground, surrounded by a small puddle of blood each. Apparently, he had stabbed his own palms with his claws in an attempt to keep calm.

"He's afraid of this asshole. And I didn't help him.," he growled, looking, as if he wanted to beat himself up.

Kylie looked at him, before she sighed. "Fleetway, that's not what I meant. He's not angry at you for not rescuing him. The problem is, that his instincts made a fatal conclusion on that day: Lightning Class semes = dangerous. That includes you, too."

"But that wasn't me!," Fleetway exclaimed and jumped up. "Fleetway, Scourge had been dehydrated, starved, sick and drugged. Not to mention, that there was perfume confusing his nose. For all he knew, it could have been you saying those awful things to him and treating him like this."

Sonic remembered Scourge's almost-question before the auction, _Say, earlier...was there..._ He hadn't thought much about it, but had Scourge tried to ask, if Prince had been Fleetway?

Fleetway apparently got to the same conclusion. "But I'm not him, I would NEVER do that. I mean, did he forget those ten years we've been hanging out together? I would never ever hurt him, not ever!," the distressed seme exclaimed.

"Fleetway, don't you get it? These ten years are the problem! Sonic and Shadow and Silver and Mephiles met on the Island and didn't know each other before. You, on the other hand, had a long friendship, that evolved in mere months to much more. Scourge is, as I already said, falling for you, but this incident on Saha has made him insecure. He doesn't know what to think anymore. Scourge's instincts learned to be careful and weary of your class. It's mere bad luck, that you two are of the same class. It means, that you share a couple of characteristics."

"We do?," Fleetway asked, not keen on sharing even the appearance with him. "Yes. That's why semes of the Lightning Class look the almost always the same – light yellow fur and raised quills – while other semes have more variations. It shows everyone, that nobody should mess with you, like a visible warning sign."

"My super form looks like that of a seme of the Lightning Class...," Sonic mused. "No wonder, changing your form like that is like putting on warpaint. It says 'Don't come closer, I'm stronger and more dangerous now!'. People like Eggman just don't understand that.," Kylie grinned. Sonic smirked in understanding. Well, that was true.

"But internally, we are completely different!," Fleetway argued. "Fleetway, if you were bitten by a dog, you wouldn't trust any dog afterwards, even the smaller ones or different breeds. Your instincts will warn you from getting closer to dogs. Right now, Scourge sees Prince as a seme of the Lightning Class as his enemy – and you with your for him strange behavior, too."

"Strange behavior!? I'm just worried, dammit!," he raged, repeating himself. "Fleetway, use that brain of yours. Scourge has never before experienced love. Neither the love of a parent, nor that of a sibling, other family member, or a friend. From what I understood, you kept the care for others on a very superficial level, even between him and Fiona. How should he know, what love looks like?," Kylie asked.

Fleetway frowned. He hated to admit it, but she was right, in their gang, care – let alone love – was really not a deeply running feeling. They took care of someone, who got injured, until he was able to hold himself up, or stole medicine for their illnesses and ailments, but usually only couples showed stronger affection than that towards their partners. Otherwise, you couldn't expect much from the gang – especially not loyalty. Everyone would leave another gang member behind without a question, when it came to a chase with the police, or rivaling gangs.

Sonic wasn't surprised to hear that, too. He still remembered, how Scourge had always seemed surprised and overwhelmed, when he, or Silver, had shown worry or care towards him on the Island. It seemed to be true, he didn't know, what love and care were.

"B-but... I'm...just..." Fleetway pulled his head quills, smearing them with blood. "What can I do?," he whined. "How can I show him, that I just want to love and care for him?," he asked himself desperately and even Sonic took pity in him, seeing him like that.

Maybe he could try and talk with Scourge to find out, if the feelings were truly remotely close to love? It would be a good beginning, wouldn't it be?

He frowned at his own thought process. When exactly had he forgiven Fleetway? And since when did he want to help him?

He couldn't know it, but most Alphas had no problem with considering people as their colony members in the blink of an eye, if they had a good reason to add them in the first place.

In this case, the information, that Scourge was falling for Fleetway, was all he needed to hear. The mates of colony members were usually integrated in the colony of the seme, but since Fleetway didn't belong to one – his gang didn't count – he was considered as part of Sonic's colony now.

The second a new member was added to the colony, he or she became clean of all sins, as if they had been born a second time under the Alpha's protection. Even if they wiped out a whole civilization, the Alpha and colony would never dream of abandoning the culprit, even if they needed to bear with lots of trouble to protect him, or her.

That didn't mean, that criminals could simply ask an Alpha to join his or her colony and be safe – most Alphas were very picky and didn't just accept every wannabe coming to them. Sonic belonged to those, he considered pretty much every acquaintance as a friend, but only the exclusive ones were seen as part of his colony, not, that he was aware of that.

Conscious Sonic was – unlike Instinct Sonic – still fully aware of what Fleetway had done to Scourge and even if he, with his instincts accepting him, felt the urge to help him, when he was that desperate, the feeling didn't run very deep, just like with a...rather not so close, platonic friend. Therefore, he resisted his own instincts and didn't think too much about how to help him.

Kylie looked at the distressed seme for a minute, before she sighed. Unlike Sonic, she had no instinct- and conscious-side. She only had her guts – and she always listened to those. "Alright. I'll probably regret it, but I'll help you.," she declared, already regretting every syllable leaving her lips.

Fleetway stopped the pulling of his quills and stared at her with wide eyes. "Huh?," he asked confused. "I'll help you.," Kylie repeated. "I'll try and show you, how to gain Scourge's trust."

Fleetway's jaw dropped open, before he jumped on her, hugging her tightly and almost throwing them both to the ground. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I take all bad thoughts I had about you back!," he exclaimed.

"Good...to know...," Kylie gasped breathlessly and thankfully, Fleetway noticed that and let her go, leaving bloody hand prints on her back.

"Thank you. Really, you're the best.," Fleetway told her gratefully. "Yeah, yeah, don't exaggerate. I'm not donating my heart for Scourge, so stop kissing my butt. And just for the record – human and mobian organs aren't compatible."

She dusted the yellow hairs off her and straightened. "Now, if you want that to work, you will have to follow my lead, got it?" It wasn't a rhetorical request – semes of the Lightning Class weren't very obedient and tended to ignore even the orders of an Alpha, that all other classes saw as laws.

"Of course.," Fleetway nodded quickly. "Okay. Now some rules: first, you will stay away from Scourge."

As expected, Fleetway wanted to contradict already. "Not for ever. But Scourge needs rest, and I'm not talking about bed rest. He has lost weight and hasn't slept properly in ages, which you apparently already noticed, due to pure stress. He needs to calm his nerves and this will work far faster, when you leave him alone."

"But..." Fleetway grimaced, still worried. "I assure you, that I have someone watching him discreetly all the time, so you don't have to worry about him getting in more trouble, than he already .," Kylie soothed.

Sonic frowned. "Why? Is he constantly getting into trouble?," he asked. Kylie paused, seeming to contemplate whether she should tell them, but then went to explain, "No, that's not the reason. You see, we get a lot of threatening mail."

A quick look to the side told Sonic, that this information was older to him, than to the seme.

"Nicole is checking all of them and shows me copies of them, just in case, that those letters contain some poisonous substances."

Sonic felt a small pang of worry hearing that – Amy and Zen both had had contact with threatening mail, especially that dead hedgehog. Zen would probably know of the possible invisible threat and wash his hands, but Amy...then again, any poison had had enough time to take effect under his watch, and she had been fine...right?

"Among those letters.," Kylie continued, drawing attention to her once more, "Among those letters appears lately daily a card with fancy patterns on it, that is always addressing a 'Green Daisy'." Sonic felt the hairs on his neck raising. Green Daisy. That was the nickname, that Prince had given Scourge!

Fleetway came to the same conclusion, it seemed, judging by the hot Chaos Energy surrounding him suddenly and burning the ground he stood on. "He's here?," he hissed.

"Maybe. If he is, then he is hiding himself good. The cards are put directly in our letter box, but not even guarding it had helped – the guy just paid random children to deliver it and kept himself well disguised, so that the little ones couldn't tell, how exactly he looked like. We checked all hotels and recently rented houses, but he doesn't seem to live here. It could be, that he pays someone to deliver those cards, but is still in Saha himself. It could also be, that someone else is meant and that it doesn't have anything to do with Scourge at all, but I'm not sure, if that isn't just wishful thinking on my side."

"I want those cards.," Fleetway snarled, having calmed enough to not burn the floor anymore...for now.

"All threatening mail gets burned each evening." Seeing, that he was about to flip his lid, she added, "But you can have all of the future ones – if there are, and, if you act to my satisfaction. See it as some kind of reward."

Strangely enough, Fleetway accepted that easily. "Alright. What are the other rules?," he asked.

"You'll come every day at 3 pm to my office, not later, or earlier – or I'll ignore you for a day." Fleetway nodded vigorously. "Of course, we have to expect Scourge to come in my office, too, for the first week after his physical recovery at least. If you catch even a whiff of Scourge at my door, retreat and fetch Mali, or John, whoever you find first. I'll inform them today. They'll come to my office for an invented reason and hide your scent that way."

"That doesn't work.," the two hedgehogs told her, unintentionally with one voice, knowing, like all mobians did unconsciously, that their noses could differ scents effortlessly.

Kylie raised a brow. "Yes, it can. You can differ scents, but you will always class the scents and human scents have a higher priority, than those of mobians, as we are posing the bigger threat."

"Yeah, right.," Fleetway huffed, feeling offended. "Fleetway, this is good. It'll help us keep Scourge calm.," Kylie told him.

"Say, does Scourge know of those threatening letters?," Sonic suddenly asked, the thought just occurring him. Would he get outside and drink himself into mortal danger, if he knew?

"I get, why you ask, and no. I won't risk it. His behavior already borders to that of someone, who's suicidal. Telling him, that he _might_ be in danger because of Prince, _could_ result in him being extra careful, but also in being extra provocative and trying to get Prince to make his move – or to push him completely over the edge, which will force us to expect suicide attempts."

Sonic and Fleetway grimaced. Two of three possible outcomes weren't helpful at all – and neither of them could foresee, how Scourge would react. Both for the same reason, they didn't know the green furred uke well enough for even assumptions.

"Anything else?," Fleetway asked. "Yes, this will only work, if you work with me. So whatever I want from you, you need to listen to me and do as I say. That means also, that you need to do probably things, that go against your very being.," Kylie rather stressed the point again. Semes of the Lightning Class weren't exactly known for their large attention span.

"Like?," Fleetway asked, sounding slightly worried. "Like sitting still for a period of time.," Kylie shrugged.

"Aw, come on!," the male whined, as if she had requested, that he ate his vegetables. "Fleetway, if you don't cooperate, then we can forget all of that right here and now.," Kylie told him matter-of-factually.

The male looked at her with disdain, before sighing. "FINE! When do we start?," he asked, defeated. "Tomorrow, maybe the day after. It depends on how good Scourge fares throughout the night.," Kylie explained.

"W-what?," Fleetway asked, his heart beating hard. "He has still the alcohol and the drugs in his blood, there is no way for us to say, if his body can handle it alone, that's why we need to watch him closely for this night – and maybe the next, too. It all depends on him.," Kylie told him.

"B-but... back on the Island...he was fine!," Fleetway stammered, now really worried. Earlier, it had sounded, as if he was going to be alright, eventually anyway, but now, he wasn't so sure.

Kylie smiled sadly. "It may sound paradox, but Scourge treated his body far harsher, than Perringten's men did. They did just use one drug, Scourge consumed an unknown amount and mix of an unknown number of drugs with alcohol. It would have been less dangerous to let four different poisonous snakes bite him at the same time."

"But he'll be fine?," Sonic asked, feeling worried now, too. "Currently, everything looks well and he's stable, but until I know exactly, what he tortured his body with, or until his body has metabolized enough of the stuff for us all to be comfortable with, I refuse to let my guard down."

Both males nodded at that. It was kind of reassuring to know, that Kylie knew, what she was doing. Both had the feeling, that Scourge was in the best possible hands.

"Can you...keep me...updated...how he's faring?," Fleetway asked, sounding almost shy. His instincts saw Kylie already as the only connection to their (future) mate, so they suggested to keep her pleased and to treat her carefully – which was good, since Lightning-semes could treat their acquaintances far less respectfully or even remotely carefully, even if they were absolutely necessary for the welfare of their mates and/or young.

"Of course, if you-" "-do as you say, I know.," Fleetway sighed. "Good, you're learning. Now, I want you to go and power yourself out. Er...run a few laps around the city, or something like that. We need to get that energy of yours under control, so it's good, if you get used to the exertion."

"Whatever. I'll go.," the male shrugged and went to the door, but stopped close to it. "Yo, Mephy, how about you dissolve this soundproof wall?," he called towards Mephiles' direction.

Almost instantly, the same lances as before with Sonic shot out of the ground, all nearly stabbing Fleetway, but actually just gracing him, before stilling, their tips about two meters above the ground, keeping him trapped between them.

Still, Fleetway barely bat an eye at that, or at the pissed dark seme, who appeared just millimeters apart from him, his body slipping through the lances, as if he was a ghost. "That nickname is reserved for Silver _only_.," the male growled.

"If you say so.," the light seme replied nonchalantly. "So, letting me out?" With a sneer, Mephiles snapped his fingers and his lances as well as the wall blocking the exit disintegrated into dust.

"Thanks, _Mephy_.," Fleetway smirked and left the room, dodging a small ball of energy the dark seme threw after him, that hit the opposite wall and created a surprisingly deep crater from the size of a human fist in it.

Kylie scowled at the damage and cleared her throat. "Yeah, yeah, I know.," the male shrugged and he and the crater disappeared with a snap of his fingers.

"Did he just destroy something over a _nickname_?," Sonic asked himself, frowning. "Yeah, he did – and I don't understand it either. Fleetway was probably bored from the talk and wanted to provoke a fight."

"He said the least of us three!," Sonic argued. "True, but for a seme of the Lightning class, it was a lot. Don't worry, if you can't really get it. Semes are as complicated as they claim us women and ukes to be.," Kylie shook her head.

"Should we return?," the woman changed the topic, drawing Sonic's attention back to herself.

"In a minute. Hey, Mephiles!," Sonic called and the male appeared immediately, looking annoyed. "Really?," he asked.

"What, can't I try it for once?," Sonic smirked with fake innocence. "Fine. What do you want?," the male shrugged.

"Could you...you know?," Sonic asked, all humor gone from his voice. Unlike Kylie, who wasn't able to follow him after just four words, that didn't even form a proper sentence, Mephiles had no problem with understanding, what the Alpha wanted. "Sure.," he shrugged and snapped his fingers, transporting the three of them, leaving the room empty.

* * *

And done! I needed to split the chapter, because I hadn't the time to write the end of it and I wanted to update in December - and yeah, this is literally my last chance.

Now some bad news: I'm afraid, I won't be able to update in January. Exams will come up between the end of January and the beginning and February and I will be busy beyond compare with those. So, the next chapter will come in February at the earliest, sorry -.-".

Have a Happy New Year! (I hope, I said that right...)


	11. 10: Alphas

Hi guys, sorry for the long wait! University work was a bitch (still is, I'm merely taking the weekend off...) and writer's block kept me company at the worst of times.

But, here it is, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**10: Alphas**

Kylie, not at all prepared for the sudden transport, gasped, once they arrived. "Guys!," she exclaimed, before realizing where she was and continuing with a far softer voice, "Warn me next time, will you!?"

They were in Scourge's room. Sonic had wanted to check up on him and Mephiles had understood his intentions by instinct.

The blue Alpha looked at the green Gamma with a pained heart. He lay alone in the spacious room, on a bed and on his back, countless tubes and wires connected to his body, that was hidden under several blankets. His face, covered with a breathing mask, looked gaunt and hollow, especially since sweat was making his fur stick to his skin. His breathing was calm, almost a little too calm, as if he skipped every second and third breath intake. More IVs, than he knew an arm could hold, were in the thin limb, one over the other, the clear bags belonging to them hanging from a heavily laden metal stand, that stood next to the head of his bed.

"Can't remember, that I had so much stuff on me, when I was in Healing slumber last time.," he muttered, while walking slowly closer, trying to sound neutral, but the subtle tremble in his voice gave his worry away.

"You were just exhausted and a little drugged – which your body had already partly recovered from, after you had left the cell. You weren't sleep deprived and unable to keep everything down for weeks beforehand, like him. On top, you are an Alpha. Being able to recover quickly and effortlessly is typical for the likes of you.," Kylie replied and went to sit on her ankles next to him, so that she didn't have to talk so loud this close to Scourge. He would probably not hear a thing, but she was rather careful. The uke needed all the rest he could get.

"So, Scourge can't do that?," Sonic asked with a pained expression. "Not as fast and effortlessly as you can, no. And as I said, a lot of drugs and alcohol is currently going through his body, that's why we need to be extra careful. Most of the equipment here is just to monitor him properly."

"And those IVs?," Sonic asked. "Nutrients and fluids. He needs lots of them and his body can take them in easier this way. Not to mention, that his metabolism needs a huge amount, so some does get stored away. He has no reserves anymore, they got all used up. As I already told you, he hadn't have a proper meal in weeks. And what little he could eat, usually came right back up, so his body is naturally lacking a lot of useful substances."

"And the mask?" "Currently, he isn't breathing as much as he would be under normal circumstances, when he's awake. That's normal for mobians in Healing slumber, but since he's fighting off poisonous substances, I need him to have as much oxygen as possible in his blood. The second he wakes up, he won't need it anymore."

Kylie ended up explaining every single piece of equipment's purpose, no matter, if Sonic already knew it, or not, until the Alpha was satisfied.

Mephiles had quickly grown bored of their talk and disappeared as soundlessly as always, leaving them alone.

"I don't get it. I don't know Scourge that well, why am I so worried about him, then?," Sonic sighed, rubbing his slightly hurting head. The headache from earlier had almost disappeared, but was now coming back with all the mass of information, that his brain wanted him to keep in mind.

"Just like Shadow's instincts latched to your temporarily weaker side, yours did to Scourge's.," Kylie explained, not even thinking for a second about it. Seemed, as if she had just waited for that question.

Sonic frowned in thought. "But... Scourge didn't look that bad in the cell, Silver looked far worse!," he argued. He had immediately wanted to protect Silver, but Scourge had seemed fine. Closed in himself and weak, yes – but better off, than the terrified Silver...and the hero himself.

Kylie looked over to him. "That had been your _second_ meeting already.," she told him shortly.

Sonic stared at her, his mind racing to find the meeting she meant in his memory, but he came up with nothing. He hadn't been with him on Paradise, he was sure of it...

"Scourge had been brought to me to get healed, while you had been there with your overdose.," Kylie explained for him.

Sonic's eyes widened and he quickly whipped around to Scourge. He remembered, what situation she meant. Some of the guards had brought in someone with...green quills...who had aborted his own young. That...had been Scourge!?

"Those scars on him...," he mumbled in thought. Although number 300 had two years ago scratched four deep slashes in the hedgehog's front, only two of them had become scars. And according to Shadow, Scourge had had infected wounds on his chest and stomach, when they had been nursed to health by their semes on the Island, but he himself had never before the attack noticed them, too distracted by his own ailments. Besides, Scourge wasn't someone to openly show, when he wasn't well.

"He broke out of his restraints and killed the children inside of him by stabbing himself. Sad as it is, but he learned quickly of the power of pregnant ukes and used it to his advantage to break free and harm them beyond healing.," Kylie explained quietly.

He probably even thought about committing suicide, seeing how large the scars had become, but since he had barely harmed any organ – besides his womb, which the surgeons on the Island had been able to fix – he had most likely changed his mind in the act.

"But...why?," Sonic couldn't help, but ask. He himself had felt so awful, when he had learned of the death of his young. Even if he hadn't felt them, yet and they hadn't been Shadow's, he had for a while felt a lump – that got smaller and smaller the more often he had thought about it – in his throat because of that. Would Scourge really do that to himself?

"Scourge received his children by rape and not from Fleetway, who he saw to this time as _potential_ mate. Ukes usually don't cheat, you know? They are very loyal, which also means, that they don't accept offspring coming from someone else. If someone tries to mate with them, who isn't their mate or love interest, then they will refuse and possibly conceived children abort. That's the second reason, why Jester tried to find matches for you. You wouldn't harm children coming from your chosen ones in any way."

Kylie didn't add, that this picking of mates was a luxury the hedgehogs didn't have for a long time right after the epidemic. Back then, reproduction and saving the hedgehog-race were above everything and the ukes and females just had to accept whoever came around, if they liked it, or not. This wasn't exactly ideal, due to the sometimes contradicting Chaos Energies clashing, the children often became weak, without any powers, suffering from chronic illnesses, some even unable to mature and dying far too early. Thankfully, there had been more right matches, or there wouldn't be hedgehogs today.

"I see.," Sonic sighed, hating the instincts once more, for forcing them to kill innocent, unborn children – their own even, to make it worse –, before a thought hit him, that worried him quite a bit, especially, since he knew Happy now. "What is with those, who have more than one partner? I mean, don't they see mating with one as cheating on the other?," he asked, alarmed.

"No, not at all. The instincts know, that there is more than just one partner and therefore allow those in, too. Since they have their own hierarchy, however, it is also seen as cheating, when the second seme – if there is one – tries to make his move before the first, and stuff like that."

Sonic nodded, his eyes had never left Scourge during her explanation, and now, he was stepping even closer to his bedside, making sure to not trip over any cables, looking down on him. "Hey, Scourge. You probably don't hear me, but it'll get better, okay? We'll help you get back on your feet. I'll try to come by often to help you and you can come over whenever you like and we'll whip Fleetway in shape, I mean, if you like, and-"

He stopped and shook his head, when he realized, what he just said...or better: rambled. "Man, I sound like a mother hen. I have never been like that with Tails, or Cream – and they are far younger, than him.," he mumbled, running a hand through his quills.

"Scourge had been in a very bad condition at your first meeting and seeing him like that now, is firing your instincts on. This should cancel itself out, though, when you see Scourge recover.," Kylie explained.

She rather not mentioned, that Sonic would start worrying again, should Scourge fall ill again, or be injured. He would find that one out on his own...or hopefully not.

"I hope it.," Sonic nodded, when he heard a sound behind him. He turned around and saw Thilo standing in the door frame, looking surprised.

Although he had stuck both his arms in a fire to pull Sonic out of a burning scanner earlier, he had not the slightest trace of a burn on him – with those scales of his, he could probably withstand everything.

"Oh, did I read the schedule wrong? I could have sworn, that it was my turn to check his vitals!," the male said towards Kylie and looked down to go through a couple of papers on the clipboard in his arms.

Sonic couldn't help it, his quills started to rise. His voice was too loud in the otherwise silent room and rang in his ears. Also, something just didn't seem right with him. All of his instincts wanted him everywhere, but here.

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. We were...er...visiting.," Kylie explained sheepishly. _I was pretty much kidnapped to come here_, would have probably sounded just wrong.

"I see.," Thilo nodded and entered the room fully, walking towards Scourge to check on his vitals, but a certain Alpha blocked his path at once.

"Hm?" With a raised brow, Thilo stopped and looked down on him. Despite their feral relatives having the opposite growth-relation, Thilo's kind became pretty tall, usually as tall as an average human teenager, which made them quite taller than mobian hedgehogs.

"May I help you?," he asked, not hiding his annoyance at being stopped while doing his job. "What do you want from Scourge?," the Alpha hissed.

Thilo suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulders and something akin to a rope seemed to wrap around his neck, tightening. He knew, that there was in reality nothing, neither around his neck, nor on his shoulders, it was merely in his head.

A silent, nonverbal warning only an Alpha could give to a non-Alpha to stay away from his colony... well, the green Gamma in this case.

"Checking his vitals, that's my job.," he told him matter-of-factually. The feelings the Alpha invoke in him would have unsettled others – but his kind was quite a bit tougher and used to death-threats, even from the own family, therefore, he didn't back down in the slightest. And seriously – the dagger he found at his throat one morning, held by his father to teach him a lesson (...that was, ironically enough, long since forgotten), had been way more scary.

"Don't come any closer. You aren't allowed to be here.," Sonic growled and Kylie swallowed and backed off a bit. Uh oh.

"Oh, and why is that?," Thilo asked, not getting the warning, or better: choosing not to get it. "You're too loud, I won't let you closer.," Sonic hissed, his quills raising.

Thilo blinked, started to chuckle, before laughing, _loudly_. "Too loud? _That's_ your problem? And here I thought, that you had a _real_ reason to stop me!," he laughed. "Listen here, this guy's in a comatose state, I could set off a _bomb_ in here and he wouldn't notice it!," he told him sternly, the laughter already forgotten.

Mentioning something about setting off a bomb next to a helpless uke was definitely not a wise thing to do in the presence of an Alpha and Thilo promptly felt the feelings from earlier getting worse, almost cutting off his air and breaking his back, if only in his head.

Kylie looked between the two males, pretty much seeing a metaphorical countdown between them, that would start a fight, when it reached zero. One more wrong move of the butterfly would turn the ward into a battlefield.

That was the only problem she had with the otherwise medicinal talented insect male – he lacked in the empathy-department. Not because he was just emotionally cold by nature – although this seemed to be the most logical explanation –, but because his whole family got drilled to emotional suppression at a very young age. At first, she hadn't understood this, not honestly _wanted_ to try and understand it, but then, she had become curious, if he could give her a believable explanation. And he could.

All butterfly and moth mobians were known for their usage of poison, but it wasn't that known, that they produced their poison everywhere in their bodies. At some point, every butterfly and moth mobian was just a bundle of poison. And this moment came very soon. Every single member of Blush's family turned into a poisonous bug – literally – at the age of four.

Thilo hadn't been very descriptive about why this age exactly – he still kept most of his family's secrets tightly to himself – but he had explained in more detail, that from their fourth to their fifth year of life, they had no control over the amounts of poison their bodies produced in their scales, saliva, snot, blood, or tears.

Especially the tears were very dangerous, since the little ones had no tear glands there, only poison glands. The tear glands developed, before they turned five, but started with it only after they had become four. Since those poison glands worked like tear glands anyway, every crying of the children could wipe out a whole city, when the poison droplets evaporated.

The family was immune to the poison, as they all carried the antidote to the toxin since the day they were born in them. Of course, this measure was taken by Mother Nature to kill every possible attacker of the child, not its family.

Butterfly babies cried rarely anyway. If they had a need, like hunger, or something along those lines, they whined subtly to inform their mother of that. They only really cried out of fear upon seeing an enemy – that they recognized as such on instinct – or when they were in unbearable pain, which was thankfully very rare.

As they were meant to interact with other, non-butterfly-beings for social skills, the children were trained to never cry – Thilo had thankfully spared her the description of the methods used there – before they turned four. Only then could they try to let them meet non-butterflies...and the word_ try_ wasn't exactly trust-building. The butterflies were either very trusting in their youngest (and the efficiency of their training methods) – or Blush belonged to the very few members of her family, who actually cared about life.

After becoming five and having an unconscious control over the poison (the conscious control came later), they were free to cry as much as they liked, but the training apparently let them suppress all feelings in public even after that. At times for the rest of their lives. One of the consequences of this cruel emotion-suppress-practice was, that people like Thilo couldn't develop something like empathy, not only due to the training, but also, since the children – and later teens, or adults – were usually about as responsive to pain as a doll. Comfort was also not something, that his related patients needed.

It was therefore no big surprise, that he wasn't very sensitive. Unfortunately, Alphas like Sonic couldn't tolerate this, especially, when it came to their colonies. If she didn't do something soon, then it would become ugly.

Kylie quickly approached Thilo and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him around in one swift movement.

"You know, what? I made a mistake, it was really my turn to check on Scourge's vitals." She pushed Thilo towards the door, grateful, that butterfly mobians were so very light, while taking the clipboard from him and hissing in his feeler, "Leave, now!"

Thilo thankfully got the – not so subtle – hint and left. Breathing a sigh of relief, she went to check the needed vitals, giving Sonic's instincts time to cool down. She was happy to see, that Scourge's vitals had improved a little since they had been last checked. They were still not the best, but better.

"I don't want this guy to work here anymore.," Sonic growled behind her. "I can't fire him. What he lacks in feelings, he makes up with medical skills. He can perform miracles.," Kylie replied easily.

Sonic paused for a second. "I don't want him close to Scourge anymore.," he eventually said. "I can assign another person for him, but should he become a surgical emergency, then Thilo is his best option." "Fair enough." Sonic nodded.

"Alright." Relieved, that Sonic was compromising – Alphas rarely did that – Kylie put the clipboard to the end of the bed, since _she_ didn't forget all the time, where she put her stuff, unless she took it with her, which was the reason for Thilo to carry the clipboard – and other things – everywhere he went. He had the short-time memory of a goldfish.

"Let's go, Shadow's for sure raiding the building already.," she smiled. Sonic nodded, but didn't move, just staring at Scourge. "How is he?," he asked.

"His vitals have improved a little. That's good, but he isn't out of the woods, yet. Tomorrow I'll know more." The hero hesitated a second longer, before he turned and left the ward, Kylie after him.

She closed the door silently and looked up. "Nicole?" An ornament in the ground not far away from them, similar to the one in the foyer, started to shine and the avatar of the AI appeared.

"Yes?," she asked. "Could you please inform Thilo, that he doesn't need to watch after Scourge anymore? And please tell Maya, that this is her job now."

"I will.," the artificial girl nodded and disappeared again. "Who's Maya?," Sonic asked, while Kylie went to go to the foyer, he following her.

"A nice raccoon mobian, about my age. She lost her job due to the hospital she worked at going broke. She and a part of her colleagues work now here. Don't worry, she'll take great care of him."

Sonic just hummed in acceptance, still a bit doubtful. He trusted Kylie, but a stranger, who took care of Scourge, while he was defenseless...? He felt Instinct Sonic trying to push him aside, for sure wanting to protest, but this time, he resisted. He would tomorrow check up on Scourge personally and see for himself, if he was in good hands.

"Will he have a side effect from the Healing slumber?," he asked, while they walked. "Most likely, yes."

"Will some of his senses be cut off again?" "Maybe, it's hard to say. Usually, ukes have a different side effect every time they awaken out of Healing slumber."

"Really? What was he like, when he woke up after the thing in Saha?" "Terrified. He was convinced, that he was still in Saha every time he woke up. As if time was turned back during his sleep. He barely got three hours of rest in a row, tormented by nightmares – and you can imagine, that this is bad. Thankfully, Silver was there. He felt Scourge's distress and started to stay with him, to ease his nerves and even invited him over for sleepovers. Being so close to a Beta reassured his instincts and he was able to calm down quickly after that. A little over a week after his rescue, he was already well again, at least physically. He was still a bit jumpy afterwards, for a while. We'll have to see, how he will be, after he wakes up."

Sonic frowned. "Will you teach him, too, how to love, like Fleetway?," he asked. Kylie chuckled. "You can't teach love, Sonic. It's a feeling, that you just have. I'm not teaching Fleetway how to love, either. I'll try to show him, how to express his love. I have no idea, if I'll get through his thick skull, though." "And what could you teach him?" "Hopefully, to listen less to his instincts."

"I thought, that we don't do this anyway!" "You? Absolutely. But semes of the Lightning Class? Not really. They are like little kids, when it comes to that. In one of my books, the minds of Lightning-semes have been compared with a rope, that the Instinct- and Conscious-sides play tug of war with. When a decision of what to do next is needed, they start to pull at the mind, until one side wins and this one takes over for a while. And from all I saw of him so far, I'd say, that his instincts win most of the time."

"Why is it so different with him?" "Safety reasons. In older days, Lightning-semes were a blessing for their colonies, because they could switch between Conscious- and Instinct-side. That was more, than most hedgehogs could do. Even some Alphas struggled with that. They kept it cool, even in dangerous situations. Nowadays, however, this is more a curse, especially, when the Instinct-side wins all the time."

"...And how will you change that?," Sonic asked, not really able to imagine, how she wanted to perform this apparent miracle.

"What do you think, why I want to start tomorrow? I need to read a lot of books and research like hell, until we meet each other again.," she sighed.

"And if you can't find anything? ...And why do I care about that?," he asked himself, completely confused.

Kylie chuckled again. "I guess, that you see Scourge as part of your colony and want to do, what's best for him. Like getting his relationship with Fleetway on the roll." "Ah, great.," Sonic muttered.

Then, he remembered something. "You said, that Silver and Emma were the perfect team...," he started.

"Yes?," Kylie asked, not understanding, what he tried to imply. "Why doesn't Mephiles allow Silver to see Emma anymore then?," he questioned.

"Ah, that.," Kylie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's true, that they are a great team, however, that comes with a catch. You see, Emma doesn't get one vision at a given time, but several. I don't know, how many, but it has to be a lot. A number with two digits at least, maybe even three, or still more. Her brain is used to the assault, most likely from her birth on, to get images and scenes of all possible times – future, past and present – at once, all mixed up, but Silver's isn't. At first, he could take, that she sent all of those visions unfiltered and almost simultaneously to her own receiving to him. He was most likely sorting through the snippets with ease and pulling some of the for him interesting information out. Then he felt, that Scourge was in trouble, in Saha, and he tried unconsciously to sort through all of those snippets systematically, to find anything, that could help finding and rescuing him. I think, that that was like trying to collect in a few special marbles in a whole flood of those, that are all the time moving. It was a huge strain on his brain's capacities. Therefore, his whole brain just had to pull the emergency break at some point – and he fainted out of nowhere, in the middle of a mental talk with Mephiles. I can't imagine, how he had to feel in the few seconds between his collapsing and his arrival at Silver's side.," Kylie finished quietly.

Sonic frowned. That reminded him a bit of an incident a good year ago, when Shadow had been on a mission overseas.

A giant flood had threatened several villages and he and Team Dark had helped the local forces to evacuate the people and to stop the water from destroying everything.

As usual, Shadow had called him, when he had been done, just to let him know, that he was unharmed.

They had established this routine, when Shadow had noticed, that Sonic had started to stalk him. Since the uke wasn't exactly aware of his new habit of 'coincidentally' being always, where his boyfriend was, they had to think of something to make sure, that he stayed safe, as his missions could become very dangerous and Sonic was too fixated on Shadow to even notice anything else.

Usually, Shadow would go on a mission, call during a break, if he had one, and/or after he had finished, so that Sonic knew, that he was alright and would come home, after writing and delivering his report, which usually took no more than an hour – the same time, that wounds, that he possibly got during a mission, needed to heal. Sonic just didn't know about this last part.

Normally, they would talk for a bit and then hang up, but this one time, Shadow had stopped in mid-sentence and Sonic had only heard, how the mobile had fallen to the ground and then screams in the background. Maybe even Shadow's, it had been so hard to say. He had for five minutes straight unsuccessfully called Shadow's name, his system had been already flooded with adrenaline, his brain working in overdrive, trying to recall, just where he was right now, ready to run to him, when the seme had thankfully –_ thankfully_ – answered his distressed calls.

As he had quickly learned, Shadow had had to interrupt their talk because of a sudden rock slide, caused by the flood, that had forced him to save Rouge, Omega, a lot of villagers and police men in roughly three minutes, before they would have been hit. Then, he had needed to stop the rock slide from obliterating the last huts, that had survived the flood, before he had been able to return to his mobile, that he had simply let fall.

Sonic had been really relieved to hear his voice again, although the stress had forced him to express this via screaming at Shadow, until his voice had given out. He had rarely been this scared.

To experience something like this, when your partner was pretty much in your head, had to be a far scarier experience, than he had had it. He couldn't imagine, how much worse this was.

"Is this, why Mephiles doesn't want Silver and Emma to be friends?" "Indeed. Silver fell into a Healing slumber, but his brain activities were off the charts. It took us a while to understand, just why he had been collapsing in the first place and what those activities meant. It was mere luck, that Emma, who had been all the time at his side, like Mephiles, since he had fainted next to her, needed to go to the bathroom, while I was present to check on him. The second she had a distance from about 15 meters to him, his brain activities reduced themselves to the normal amount. When Emma returned and they spiked again, it wasn't so difficult to find the connection there and Mephiles chased her off."

Well, that explained, why Mephiles was 'afraid' of Emma. He was afraid of what she did unconsciously to his love. And that also explained, why the dark seme hadn't personally been in Saha.

"Then what is his problem with Shy?," he asked. "Shy?" "Yeah. Scythe told us earlier, that Mephiles has not only a problem with Emma, but with Shy, too."

"Right." Kylie sighed again and shook her head. "Well, Silver tried to rebel a little against Mephiles by trying to become friends with Shy. I'm pretty sure, that he wanted to be friends with Emma still, in this indirect way. Sadly, Mephiles didn't take that too well. He had been just too scared, that Silver would fall back in Healing slumber, maybe even forever, so he took...drastic measures."

"Drastic measures?" "He...tried to kill Shy." "What!?" "Well, he figured, that Silver couldn't become friends with a body, so..."

"Is he crazy!?" "Sonic, Shadow would have had the exact same thought process, if someone would be a threat to _your_ health in this unstoppable way. Besides, Shy and Mephiles are pretty even matched."

"Seriously?" "Well, _he_ looked far worse than _her_, when we finally managed to separate them. I had a talk with him and he could convince Silver to just stay away from the two."

"Forever?" "No, it doesn't appear so. You see, Silver connects still with Emma, when they are both sleeping..."

"Is that, why Silver dreams of things he can't know?," Sonic interrupted her accidentally. He had wondered about that already.

"Exactly. Emma's signals and Silver's receiving are far better, when they both sleep. Without their consciousnesses in the way, their minds can process so much more. And Silver seems to have a certain understanding of how to handle the visions now. He is able to select, what he wants to see. It could be, that one day, his unconscious control is strong enough for them to interact again."

"So he dreamed solely of me lately, because he has more control over his dreams now.," Sonic concluded.

Kylie laughed. "Yes, you got this right." "What's so funny?," Sonic wondered. "Before Silver went to get you, he tried to do a long-distance-diagnosis of you with me. It was...kinda awkward to diagnose a dream-Sonic, you know?"

Sonic smirked. He could imagine Silver trying to describe his symptoms in a less than understandable way, than he had on Angel Island. He wouldn't be surprised, if she had taught him to express the symptoms like he did towards him.

Now, that this was settled, there was one last thing he needed to know right now. "Say, what was Silver's and Mephiles' last date like, that he wants you to teach Silv a thing or two about dating?", he asked. Kylie smirked.

* * *

Once again, Shadow found himself face to face with a certain blonde receptionist. "Where. Is. He?," he growled. "Again, do I look like a fortuneteller?," Mali asked coolly.

Shadow was just about ready to give her a piece of his mind, when he heard one of the most reassuring sounds ever: laughter. But not anyone's laughter – Sonic's.

Feeling warm relief wash over him, Shadow jumped off the desk and looked in the direction, from where Sonic's laughter came and saw him walking in, holding his belly with one hand and Kylie's coat with his other, trying to stay balanced. Since he was laughing so hard, he could barely walk properly.

Kylie was having more luck with staying upright, but she wasn't laughing as hard as the mobian anyway.

"A-and th-then?," Sonic barely got out with all the laughter. "Well, there was a spot for pony riding and of course, Silver wanted to try it. And as considerate, as he is, he wanted Mephiles to join the fun. So he used his powers to bring him on a horse's back. The poor animal felt, how foul his mood was, so it threw him off – right into the birthday cake. Needless to say, that the birthday boy was crushed. His mother gave Mephiles an earful, which ended the party.," Kylie chuckled, stopping all movements, when a new fit of laughter hit her friend. "Chaos, I'll die laughing!," the hedgehog laughed, actually crying from the laughter.

"Sonic?," Shadow questioned, coming closer. "H-hey, Sh-Shads.," the hedgehog laughed, trying to go to him, but he would have collapsed, hadn't Shadow caught him. "What's so funny?," he asked with a raised brow.

Sonic hadn't even laughed that hard, when Knuckles had last year tripped over a random tool Tails had forgotten, while carrying a huge pot of – thankfully cold – fish soup, that hadn't been eaten during the party they had had the day before. He had thrown the pot in the air, when he had fallen, and the whole thing had landed upside down on his head, spilling a good two liter – the soup hadn't been very popular among the guests – of the fishy dish over himself.

It had taken him a full week to get the stench out of his fur and since he didn't have a shower on Angel Island, he had had to drop by at Sonic's and Tails' house several times a day just for that. The frequent visits had upset Shadow's jealousy big time, although the stench had something satisfying – for him. Not to mention, that Sonic had started to laugh every time he had caught a whiff on fish in Knuckles' range – and Shadow had just adored this sound.

"K-Kylie just told m-me about S-Silver's and M-Meph's last date...," Sonic chuckled, fighting to get the laughter under control. "So?," Shadow asked, still with a raised brow.

"Mephiles thought, that it was a date – Silver, however, took him to the eighth birthday party of one of his younger friends.," Kylie chuckled and Sonic looked up to Shadow to see the corner of his mouth move up.

Under his new bout of snickers, Sonic felt the old annoyance upon Shadow's behavior rise up. It bothered him, that a half-smile was everything he managed in public. He knew, that Shadow had learned to conceal his true feelings, until he was only around loved ones of his – once they were home, he would quite literally roll on the floor with laughter – but that didn't mean, that he had to like it.

Finally, after several minutes, Sonic had calmed down. "I'll tell you the whole story later.," he promised and they separated, so Sonic could stand properly again.

"Alright.," Shadow agreed, when someone cleared their throat behind them. The three turned around and saw Mali sitting there with her arms crossed, tapping her finger on her arm, while staring at Shadow pointedly. "Can't remember, that I heard you apologize.," she mentioned.

Shadow sneered. "_Fine_! I'm sorry, okay? You really didn't know, where Sonic was.," the seme grumbled. Mali just shook her head and went back to typing.

"Shadow...," Sonic growled disapprovingly. "I know, I was just worried.," the agent explained regretfully. The hero sighed. "Alright, just try to be a little more relaxed, okay?," he mumbled.

"How about we go back to my office, for privacy?," Kylie suggested and gently shepherded her friends to the room in question.

It was probably better, if she kept Mali and Shadow as far apart as possible. The young woman wasn't exactly fond of people with Shadow's characteristics. If that went on, one of her many friends here would feel the need to protect her one day, since Shadow wasn't someone to just back off, either.

"So, what did you do in the last hour?," Shadow tried to gently pry. Sonic chuckled. "Wow, I hope you interrogate criminals much better.," he snickered. "I was just talking with Kylie and Fleetway."

"About what?" "That's a secret.," Sonic replied without hesitation. "But-" "Sorry, but you can't break me on this.," Sonic cut him right off.

Shadow's instinct, that was – unlike Instinct Sonic – not an imaginary person sharing their mind like an apartment, but rather an inner voice, suggested to let it be and promised worlds of punishment, if he didn't obey.

"Alright.," Shadow agreed reluctantly and was relieved – and to some extent surprised – that that simple word rewarded him with one of Sonic's most beautiful smiles.

* * *

Just a few minutes later, they were back in Kylie's office. John had cleaned it up and was gone. Almost all of the chairs in front of Kylie's desk were back in their original place, only two remained and both hedgehogs took a seat there.

For now, Sonic didn't have any desire to be closer to Shadow and he had a hunch, that this had to do with Instinct Sonic being a little mad at Shadow for trying to pry earlier.

"Now.," Kylie took a seat herself and looked at her friends. "I still owe you a story, don't I?," she asked, more in Sonic's direction, who needed a good minute to remember, what she meant.

It seemed, as if more than just a few hours were between now and their talk in the private ward.

Noticing Shadow's questioning glance, he turned to him. "Kylie had been there...when...I was raped.," he mumbled the last part, looking down.

Shadow's eyes widened. "And you didn't do anything!?," he screamed at Kylie, who jumped, together with Sonic, both not having expected such an outburst.

"What did you expect me to do!? There were about twenty other people, including Perringten! And I didn't even know, what he planned, until...until..." Kylie bit her lip and looked down on her lap.

"Shad, I don't blame her, I never would. I know, that you would have stopped it, if you would have been able to.," he said the last part towards Kylie, who smiled weakly, while the hero sat down in Shadow's lap. Partly, because he had the sick feeling, that he would need his comfort soon – and partly to keep the peace in this room.

"Are you comfortable enough to tell us?," he asked, after feeling, that Shadow was calm and wouldn't flip his lid again anytime soon.

"I guess. Now, as I said, I had been forced to... watch, I'm afraid. Shortly after...it started, I could feel the ground shaking and you appeared, killing the seme and freeing Sonic."

As Kylie had found out later, Shadow had been bolted to the ground three rooms further by lots of thick iron straps to imitate a struggle for his instincts, after that would follow the claiming of his mate. She just didn't mention it, to not boost his ego.

"What happened next?," Sonic asked, while unconsciously leaning closer to Shadow, who tightened his grip in reassurance. Despite Kylie trying to describe as neutral as possible, just thinking about the whole incident brought some bad memories back.

"Perringten wasn't exactly happy with the outcome and he sent his men to lock you up again – but he underestimated the rage of a seme protecting his injured mate. Your Chaos Energy caused an explosion, that Sonic's protected you from.," Kylie explained.

"It did? And you?," Sonic asked. "I was clever enough to duck in time. I was the only one, by the way. After the aftershock had faded, I saw you two sitting under a protective shield, that Sonic had created. You took me into the shield's protection, but then you were very weak and I managed to convince you, that Sonic needed to come to my ward, so I could treat him. You...kind of read my thoughts, or something like that, and transported us right there."

"I read your thoughts. And used Chaos Control. Without an Emerald? Impossible.," the dark furred agent scoffed.

"I have to agree, I have never used this Chaos Energy sphere-thingy, either.," Sonic backed his boyfriend up.

"You underestimate your instincts. Both of you wanted to protect the other and that let you access a previously unknown power."

"And only then, never again?," Sonic wondered. "Yes. You can only access those powers, if you want to protect your mate. Otherwise, they are locked away from you."

"Just for my mate? What about for my friends? Or other people in general?," Sonic asked curiously.

"For those occasions are other powers reserved. Those Chaos Energies you showed back then only work, when you two are together as mates and want to protect each other.," Kylie replied.

"I see." "I don't get, why this seme would do that to Sonic. Didn't you say, that Alphas wouldn't be attacked by semes? They didn't attack on Paradise, but this seme did!," Shadow argued. This was the one reason, why he didn't trust Kylie's explanation from earlier, why he didn't trust Sonic with all the guys flirting with him so far and in the future. This one seme had already attacked Sonic. What would stop others from trying (or worse, _doing_) the same?

"That was different. You two probably don't remember it, but this one seme wore some kind of gas mask. It made him smell all the time a different scent, that of a random uke, who wasn't an Alpha. It tricked him into thinking, that you were a regular Gamma."

"And what about those on Paradise?" "They smelt, that you were an Alpha with a mate and therefore tried to convince you to date them instead."

"Then why were they fighting?," Sonic wondered. "They started their own tournament to decide, who may approach you first."

"And the bloody thing?" "A gift for you. The...ripped out heart of another seme. Meant as a trophy."

Sonic turned rather green and pale at hearing that and Shadow reacted by moving his arm supporting Sonic's back, so he was a little reclined, while his free hand started to gently massage his stomach, trying to ease the nausea, like his instincts dictated.

Sonic, after the first surprise, relaxed and just enjoyed the attention, purring slightly, while Kylie pretended – or maybe she really was – to sort through the files, that John hadn't been able to bring in the right order. This way, she gave them some privacy, until Sonic's stomach had settled and both were paying more attention to her again.

"Why did this seme think, that I would want him to murder someone for me?," Sonic wondered, continuing their talk.

"It's trial and error concerning what you prefer. It's normal, that all semes try to find out the likes of the ones they are interested in, uke or female. Since you are an Alpha, they tried to demonstrate their strength towards you. But as you declined the heart, they thought of something else."

"Then why didn't they take me, when Shadow and I were sedated, back on Paradise?," Sonic questioned.

It wasn't, as if he would have wanted that, but it drew him mad not to know the answer to that. With those drugs, the semes had been like feral animals at best – and a feral animal wouldn't have waited for him to awake, it would have killed and devoured him in a heartbeat. Why didn't the semes try to rape him?

He remembered waking up in Shadow's container, on a pile of leaves, with Shadow at his side, promising him, that he hadn't been touched. And the semes had just waited for him to wake up, it seemed.

"No seme, not even sky high on drugs, would ever try to assault an Alpha like that. I already explained to you, that the semes were trying to 'flirt' with you in their drugged state, which came out as almost-rape. However, even the most drugged male can differ between a sleeping and an awake Alpha and they would never try to touch you in your sleep. Besides the fact, that this would let their chance to become you mate drop to the negative million squares, it would also make you, or any Alpha – and his or her whole colony – mad. And nobody wants a whole colony against himself, believe me. I read about a few semes, who were actually stupid enough to try and rape their Alpha in his or her sleep. They needed to leave the continent, unless they wanted to be killed. The semes helped you to try and show you, that they could provide you with everything."

"And why didn't they try to take on Shadow, if they were so keen on getting me?," Sonic asked. He didn't want that, either, but it would be logical to try that, right?

"Trying to fight off a seme of the Shadow Class, who has set his eyes on his mate already? I'm pretty sure, everyone of them would have preferred to take on an army instead of that. They know by instinct, that semes protecting their mates are very dangerous – and the ones of the Shadow Class are among the most dangerous ones." Well, the semes had appeared a bit clearer back that day, as if they knew, that messing with Shadow had been a bad idea... Sonic nodded in thought.

"You seem to have an answer to everything, huh? Can you tell me then, why you told me to bring Sonic to another place on this Chaos forsaken place? Why didn't you tell me to get us out of there, since I was apparently not in the right mind to think of it myself?," Shadow growled. Kylie froze, paling rapidly and looking away.

The dark seme just wanted to go on, vent some more, when he felt raised quills dig into his arms and he looked down to see Sonic's icy glare on him, which actually let him shiver. "Shad, enough.," he growled.

"Sonic, it's okay. I asked myself that already, too, many times. As a fact, I just concentrated on getting you somewhere, where I would be able to treat you and my ward had been the only place matching this description in my mind. I didn't even think about a hospital. I only realized, that I could have brought you out of this hell, when Perringten's men had already come to get you again. I cried for hours for being so stupid.," Kylie sighed, trying to discreetly wipe her eyes, while looking away.

"Kylie, I'm not mad at you – and you shouldn't be, either. See it like that: if you had gotten us out of there, Silver, Scourge and many other mobians would be dead now.," Sonic comforted.

Kylie smiled weakly. There had happened a lot of stuff due to her decision of leading Shadow to her ward instead of a hospital on dry land. The most bitter had been Scourge's rape.

Sonic was right, though, Perringten would have erased all evidence – living or not – long before she would have been able to explain the whole situation and get somebody to believe her (Towers wouldn't have been among those...), but she couldn't help, but ask herself:_ what if _she had decided differently? If she had told Shadow to bring them to a hospital, and Perringten would have been down for the count for just long enough to send GUN-troops?

In retrospective, she had no idea, how much time had passed, until Perringten had appeared in her ward that day, to see his 'possessions' getting collected in again. Had it been hours? Minutes? Even if it would have been minutes, he would have assumed, that they had tried to flee and he would have wasted hours with trying to find them...

Only with a lot of struggle, she managed to pull herself out of the all too familiar _what if_-questions-cycle. She knew by now, that thinking about it wouldn't give her any closure, just talking about it would do the trick.

"What happened, after we arrived in the ward of yours?," Shadow asked. "Well, we tended to Sonic's injuries." "Me, too? H-"

"Please, don't ask.," Kylie sighed and shook her head. Seeing the confusion in their eyes, she added, "Some things are better left unsaid. I assure you, that you helped Sonic a lot, okay? Let's leave it at that." There was NO way in heaven or hell, that she would even attempt to put this situation in words.

Not really understanding that, Shadow nodded. He better didn't try to pry, or Sonic would kick him out of the house for a week. The few run-ins with Instinct Sonic today had already taught him that much.

"We know, what happened to Sonic afterwards, but what about me? What happened to me?," he rather asked, wanting to close another small gap in his memory.

"You were kept in a highly secured room, looking pretty much like a giant vault. I've never been in one, but apparently, you had been secured to a metal bed with a mixture of drugs and sedatives getting all the time led into your bloodstream."

"I hardly remember, how I got back to your ward, I just remember being pulled – and laughed at.," he added with an accusing glare at Kylie, who only blinked.

"Laughed? Nobody laughed, the situation hardly called for that! I tried to convince the idiot leading you to slow down, but he refused. He didn't trust me alone with you, otherwise I would have prevented you from tripping over your own feet all five seconds.," Kylie replied, shaking her head disapprovingly, not even getting the accusation. "Any other questions?"

"Yes. How do you know all that?," Shadow asked. Of course, he couldn't know, that Shy had raided and afterwards destroyed the Island, giving her the evidence, so Kylie explained it to him.

The corners of Shadow's mouth moved more and more up the farther she came, until he showed a rather sadistic smile.

"That...seems to be amusing to you.," Kylie observed. "I wished you would have told Towers that earlier. His face upon hearing, that a little girl has stolen a landmass right under his nose, would have been hilarious.," the dark hedgehog smirked.

Kylie chuckled. "He would have probably snapped my neck then and there, but yes, it would have been hilarious.," she agreed. Then she looked at Sonic. "Now, would you like to talk about you hating to be an Alpha?"

Sonic flinched. "Huh!? B-but...how do you know that!?," the male stammered. "Sonic, every time I mention, that you are an Alpha or that something has to do with you being one, you look, as if you're biting into a lemon. Besides, I'm an Alpha, too. The second I learned, that I am one, I would have loved to hide under my desk for a few decades."

"Why didn't you?," Sonic asked, while moving back to his own chair. He suddenly didn't want the physical contact anymore.

"I have a few children to raise, remember? Hiding isn't an option. Besides, I didn't really know, what being an Alpha means, so I was pretty much afraid of something I didn't even know the extent of. So I stopped being afraid and did my research, until I knew, what I was dealing with. Now, what are _you_ so afraid of?," she asked.

Sonic exhaled, crossed his arms and leaned back, letting his chair stand on its hind legs, keeping his balance easily enough. "I don't know. I just can't shake off the feeling, that being an Alpha is like being a hero with a turn to the wor- AAH!"

He had opened his eyes saying that last part and, as he had been looking up at the ceiling, immediately spotted Mist, who had been leaning against said ceiling, as if lying on the ground, apparently studying him, but now staring back with wide eyes.

On instinct, the hero wanted to move back, but forgot, where he exactly was and would have crashed painfully on the ground, if it wouldn't have been for Shadow catching the back of his chair and righting it carefully.

"Are you crazy!? What were you thinking!?," he snarled at the ghost, who looked to the side, his cheeks turning a dark silver, as if he was blushing, before he disappeared, soundlessly like usual.

"What was that about?," Sonic asked Kylie, who chuckled. "That's just the worry of a parent. Mist knows, that his little Hope likes you. He just wants to make sure, that you wouldn't hurt her, ever. He'll probably be on your heels whenever you appear here, at least for a little while."

"Great.," Sonic groaned, although he could understand that. He still remembered Vanilla's interrogation, when Cream had declared, that she would love to hang out with the hero and his friends more often. As friendly as the woman was – she could be tougher than a GUN-agent, when it came to her daughter's safety. It had taken a few weeks for her to be completely comfortable with Cream's new companions.

He was a little surprised, actually, that Kylie hadn't done that already. He couldn't know, that years ago, Kylie had turned the internet upside down, while trying to find any dirt on him and only AFTER finding absolutely nothing, allowed her children to get an autograph from him, but still staying on guard. Meeting him in person and fighting for your life alongside him definitely helped with decreasing her distrust to absolutely nothing.

"Mist has probably enough for today. Now, what makes you think, that being an Alpha is worse, than being a hero?," Kylie brought the previous topic up, after checking for the ghost around the room and finding nothing.

"Well, if I as a hero tell the people to run for shelter, they'll do it, but an Alpha gets protected. I couldn't stand the thought of someone getting hurt, because they tried to help me.," Sonic explained. He still remembered Kylie's explanation from earlier, that other ukes of the colony harmed themselves to protect the Alpha in their middle. It made him kind of worried about what _his_ colony would do...

"I see, but I don't think, that this is a problem. In a colony, everyone knows their place. Those, who can fight, will fight – and those, who can't, run for cover. Those outside your colony will run anyway. And if someone gets hurt still, it's not your fault, but that of the attacker."

Sonic frowned, not really feeling better at that, since it didn't solve his problem completely. "I have absolutely no idea, how to be an Alpha! I mean, what, if I do something wrong?," he asked, clearly still overwhelmed by the responsibility.

"I... may have the thing for that.," Kylie mumbled in thought, stood up, went over to the bookshelf and started to look over the titles, until she had found, what she had been looking for. "Here." She pulled out a book, that looked a little worn, and brought it to Sonic, giving him the object.

"'Tales for My Sun'?," Sonic read the title on the otherwise bland, dark blue cover questioningly, looking at Kylie, who was returning to her place.

"It's a kind of diary of an Alpha, who lived a long time ago. His words had been graved in stone and been dedicated to his daughter, Sun, a future Alpha. About twenty years ago, the texts had been found in a cave and somebody took his time and typed them down for the people to read. The first few chapters in this book are merely stories, for sure fairy tales for the still young Sun. Starting with chapter 5, he begins to explain the tasks he has and to give her advice on how to be a good Alpha. I admit, that some of his suggestions and descriptions are outdated, but it should give you some clues about what being an Alpha means."

Curiously, Sonic leafed through the book, determining, that it was easily readable enough and closing it. "Thanks.," he smiled.

Kylie nodded. She knew, that not even a hundred books would help Sonic with being a good Alpha, but telling him, that he would do everything right by instinct would do nothing to reassure him, either. This book was the most detailed she knew, it would give Sonic a good overview over the responsibilities and duties of an Alpha and with a little luck, he would realize on his own, that he was already doing, what good Alphas did on a daily basis.

"If there are any questions outside of what's written in the book, you can just call." And she gave both hedgehogs her scribbled down phone number, and mail-address for good measure. "I have read a lot of books and it might be easier to just tell you, what I know, than throwing the mass on you and let you figure that all out on your own.," she explained.

"Yeah, probably for the best.," Sonic agreed. He had nothing against reading, not at all, but he preferred books, in that actually happened something, over those scientific ones.

Kylie smiled at his answer, as she had expected something like that. It was common among Alphas to do this.

Well, not the exchange of numbers, since telephones didn't exist back then, but the general offer of an older Alpha to a younger one to contact them for questions or advice. Back in older days, many Alphas had been forced unexpectedly fast in their role, as it sadly wasn't so uncommon for their Alpha-parents to die, while protecting the colony. The young ones were therefore grateful for every piece of advice or guidance offered by another, older Alpha.

Technically, she was the young one here, since Sonic was a born Alpha and had age-old instincts as backup and she was a chosen Alpha – by the hedgehogs, for the hedgehogs, so to say – but in cases like this, the physical age counted, as it equaled experience. Besides, it was always comforting to know, that there was someone, who you could turn to in times of need.

"Thanks, really. You're the best.," Sonic smiled, slipping the post-it note with her contact data between the pages of the book. "I guess we'll go and try to get Tails, then, and call it a day.," the hedgehog explained, both getting up. He had taken in a lot for one day and was quickly getting tired now.

"You just go ahead, I have a few things to talk about with Shadow, just the two of us. If you come across Mali, you can ask her for your prescription, it should be ready now.," Kylie replied.

Sonic, however, didn't move to leave the room. "What do you need to talk with Shadow about, that I shouldn't hear?," he asked.

Shadow started to sweat. _Lie, lie, lie! Please, lie!_, he begged the woman internally. "Oh, just some things the mate of an Alpha should know. I think, it's better, if I tell him personally. This way, I can make sure, that he listens for once.," Kylie lied smoothly.

"Really? And what things are there to talk about, that I shouldn't know?," Sonic asked and Shadow was about ready to kick him out himself. Did he REALLY have to be so curious all the time!?

"You want to listen? Fine.," Kylie shrugged and Shadow's jaw dropped. Was she serious right now!?

"Now, Shadow," Kylie started, before he could try to stop her. "When you two have sex-" She had barely ended the last word, when the room was devoid of one hedgehog, the door just slamming shut due to a gust of wind.

"You should write a book: 'How to empty a room with ten words or less'.," Shadow mentioned, trying not to sound hurt by his mate's actions, looking at the door.

"He only learned recently, that every sexual encounter of you two could lead to him getting pregnant. Give him a bit of time to stomach that and you'll barely be able to keep your hands to yourselves. By the way, _you_ should write a book, too: 'How to lie to my boyfriend for years'. I would _really_ love to read it.," she growled the last part, a scowl on her face, that screamed of disapproving.

Shadow grimaced, turning to her. "Look, I-" "I really can't believe you! I would strangle you right here and now, if I would believe for _one second_, that your brain would need even less oxygen up there! I want an explanation, why you were so stupid – and it better be a good explanation, or I'll have Mephiles lock you away for a week!," Kylie hissed and Shadow felt the sudden urge to flee. Chaos, she could be scary!

"...I tried, but he didn't even react positively to my own immortality. How could I tell him, when he doesn't like the thought of _me_ being unable to die?"

"So you thought, that not telling him is the best option? Do you have any idea, what this means? Not for you, but for Sonic? What if Eggman one day succeeds in giving him a potentially lethal wound, that he actually survives without a struggle? He could take being outed as an uke by him, because nobody could foresee this, but if he gets outed as an immortal by the good doctor, too, and he finds out, that you are responsible for that AND knew about it all along, you are in for trouble – and he can afford being mad at you for a few centuries."

"Alright, I get it. I'll tell him today, when we're home.," the agent gave up. "No, you won't.," the woman told him strictly, as if this was the last word on this matter.

Shadow blinked. Was she serious right now!? "You_ just_ explained to me, why I should tell Sonic – and now you tell me, that I _shouldn't_!?," he raged.

"Not today.," Kylie clarified. "Sonic needs rest and time to calm down and process everything he learned today. Dropping that kind of bomb on him could make his condition become worse – and do you want to test out, how far his immortality reaches?"

Shadow raised a brow. What did she mean with that? "I had a talk with Mephiles a while ago, about immortality."

Shadow just opened his mouth, when Kylie already continued, "About _Silver's_ immortality. He tries to find ways to explain to Silver, that he is immortal – and, that he'll become that, too. I saw some parallels between Silver and Sonic and asked discreetly for more information. As I could learn, Sonic is most likely not like you in the immortality-department. He will need more time to recover from wounds and unlike you, he'll be more prone to illnesses. Which isn't so surprising, there are far more illnesses, that ukes can contract, than semes can. And before you ask, most of the illnesses I mean are genetically caused and Sonic's blood test came out negative for all known illnesses starting in the DNA.," Kylie quickly explained, before she would have to deal with Shadow every time Sonic did as much as cough a bit. She knew, how worried semes were about their mates.

"Illnesses caused by outer factors are still a possibility and stress is most likely one of the main sources – so no stressing him overly, when he can't take it. Also, it might be, that there are natural poisons, that can harm him, but I'm not sure. Mephiles apparently didn't trust me with that information.," she sighed angrily.

When would this stubborn idiot realize, that she would NEVER hurt Silver or risk his health and/or safety!?

Shadow scowled. Seemed, as if he needed to talk with the male. He was apparently an expert for immortality. And if he wasn't completely stupid, then he had already figured, that Kylie wasn't asking out of mere interest.

Just great. If he didn't keep Sonic and Mephiles separated, then he would 'accidentally' hint something towards him.

"Alright, I'll tell him, as soon as he feels better.," the agent relented and turned to leave. "Did I tell you _anything_ about being done with you?," Kylie asked and Shadow looked at her, surprised.

"Sit.," she ordered and grudgingly, the seme scowled at her. He had had enough episodes with Rouge to know, how vengeful women could be, if you ignored them.

Besides, with Mephiles at her beck and call and Sonic still in the building, he could get into serious trouble.

"Are you done with finding ways to weasel yourself out of this situation?," Kylie asked annoyed. She was apparently not done with being angry at him for keeping Sonic's immortality a secret.

"I'm not weaseling.," the male growled and plopped onto his chair again. "Whatever you say. Now, I already told you, that I wanted to talk with you about some things the mate of an Alpha should know."

Shadow blinked. "That wasn't a lie?," he asked astounded. Kylie rolled her eyes. "Alphas can see through lies, something, that you should probably keep in mind. Besides, I don't lie to my friends, unless absolutely necessary.," Kylie huffed, clearly offended.

"Alright. Anything else?," the male asked impatiently. "A couple of things. For starters, ukes are considered to be the submissive ones – with Alphas, it's mostly the other way round. Don't get me wrong there, Sonic still fulfills all criteria, that make him the submissive half of a couple – he's a bit smaller and lighter than you, can get more easily sick, conceives children and his behavior is considered rather submissive...if you're just among yourself. One more person in the room, and his inner Alpha will show itself."

Shadow scoffed. "I know that already. Anymore news?," he grumbled sarcastically. He had figured that much this first winter after the Island-incident, when Sonic had wanted to cuddle at night and pretended to not like physical contact in the mornings, conveniently every time, when a certain fox had been about to enter the room. It hadn't been THAT hard to figure out, although he might have needed Kylie's explanation to REALLY figure that out. Something, that he wouldn't tell the woman, if he could help it.

Kylie facepalmed. "No, you don't.," she sighed. "I know, what you are thinking about, I already talked about this phenomenon with Sonic, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. Sonic is a born Alpha, so he'll feel the need to interfere in everything, even things you wouldn't expect. For example, he could go to Topaz and order her to release you of your duties for GUN."

Shadow shook his head. "Yeah, right. He knows, how much this job means to me. He would never take this away from me."

"What if you get severely hurt? Or go missing for a while? You shouldn't underestimate, how much Sonic knows about what happens on your missions."

"He knows, when I get injured?," Shadow asked to clarify. "Yeah. At least by instinct. Now, that Instinct and Conscious Sonic are starting to work together, you should be careful not to lie too much to him. Instinct Sonic will notice and inform Conscious Sonic about it – and you shouldn't be surprised, if you get a cold shoulder, when you get home."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her. "You told him to listen to his instincts, didn't you!?," he accused.

"Of course I did. He was completely confused by his actions lately, how could I not tell him? However, Instinct Sonic does very little, that Conscious Sonic doesn't want. It won't be, as if you'll have two mates in one body. As I already explained to Sonic, it will cancel itself out soon, just give him a bit time. Anyway, Alpha ukes and females tend to smother their semes a bit, when they are in the presence of another person or more. I only told you that, so you won't take it personal, when Sonic suddenly speaks for you, or decides something for you, maybe even differently to your own decisions or opinions. The most important thing you need to remember is, that you can't resist his actions in front of others. Talk with him, when you two are alone. Undermining his authority in public isn't wise..."

"I get it. And it's not SO unusual. Rouge is pretty much like that all the time.," Shadow grumbled. The bat was a queen and she played with her – male – pawns as easily as a child with her dolls. And beware, if you ever resisted – she could make your life a living hell.

"Then you are in training.," Kylie chuckled. Shadow scowled, before he remembered something. "Is this Alpha-thing the reason, why he followed me around for a while, especially to GUN-missions?," he asked thoughtfully.

Kylie chuckled. "That does rather sound like a bout of curiosity, caused by a certain tight-lipped seme. Alphas always get their information, and if they have to collect them themselves. It stopped, when you told him more about what you did all day, right?"

"...Anything else?," the male asked, to change the topic. He refused to admit, that she was right.

"Yes, when you two have sex-" "No." "No?" "_No_, I won't talk with YOU of all people about our sex life."

"Well, would you prefer to read the about five hundred books I had to consult to come to the knowledge I possess now?," Kylie asked with crossed arms and Shadow grimaced, not keen on that, either. He really didn't have the time for that.

"It's not, as if I can't wait to talk with you about sex. Chaos alone knows, that I don't ever want to talk about this topic with my own son, but in your case, it's necessary, since no one else can tell you this – unless you find another Alpha seme, which is...rather unlikely."

Not to mention, that only a few semes felt the need to share their knowledge at all with non-relatives – which was the reason, why only three hedgehog semes in total worked as teachers/trainers here (and that only, because they either needed the money, or had been forced, which was the case for Mephiles).

"Let's just get this over with. I try to make it as neutral and graphic-less as possible, okay?," Kylie tried to bargain.

The hedgehog sighed. "Fine. What is so important for me to know?" "As I said, Alphas are very dominant in public and all the more they are submissive in front of their mates alone. It is your call to initiate...anything sexual, at least for the first few times. He might become confident with ensuing something later on, but that remains to be seen...by you, of course. It will mostly be your duty to start anything. As your mate, Sonic won't resist, unless you hurt him, but your instincts should prevent you from doing that. At times, however, you will feel the need to go over Sonic's 'No'..."

"I would rape him!?" "No, although it sounds like it at first glance. The semes of Alphas feel, when their mates are overly stressed and know, how to distract them from it, if only temporary – at times, well, with initiating sex without listening to the partner's complaints. I just want you to know that, so you won't fight yourself and your instincts, should you be in this situation. _That_ could lead to rape."

Shadow nodded shortly, the information quickly engraved into his brain to never forget it. "Another thing you should know, is, that around mating season, several semes will flirt with Sonic to try and become his mate. As I already explained, that doesn't mean much, since Sonic won't change his mind easily, you might feel the need to...er...stake your claim, though."

"Like with the seme back on the Island.," Shadow growled. "More or less, yes. Back then, your instincts almost successfully urged you to try and impregnate Sonic, before this other male could succeed. Around mating season, however, this is, ironically enough, not about reproduction, at least not in the first place. It's about territory."

"I see Sonic...as my territory?" "Yep. At least during mating season. Semes like it to show off and during this time of the year more than normal. It shows the dominance they have over other semes, who don't have a mate. Of course, they don't want to lose this dominance – and getting their mate pregnant is the ultimate way of securing the territory. Since Sonic doesn't plan on becoming pregnant anytime soon and will take contraceptives and you as mobians can somehow feel and smell, when the impregnation had been successful, you might feel the need to er...mate the contraceptives away. That's nothing new for semes and you will learn more about it in the sexual education class I let you put in, but I want you to know, that you will feel the urge the strongest, because Sonic is the most favorite flirt-target."

"You put me in what!?," Shadow raged. "Really? That's the only thing, that you are interested in? Fine, yes, I assigned places for you and Sonic in sexual education classes. Sonic has apparently no idea about how children are made and with your background story, I'm not sure, if you know it in detail, either. You'll go to separate classes and it's just one appointment, so you'll live."

Seeing, that Shadow wasn't as easily convinced, as Sonic, she added, "You want to be a good mate, don't you?"

Of course, Shadow nodded, his eyes wide at her bold question. "Then you should know, when and how to battle your instincts, so that you don't accidentally hurt Sonic one day." She hated it to talk like this, but she knew, that semes were thickheaded at best and that she wouldn't be able to reach him otherwise. Most semes needed threats (or promised rewards, like she did earlier with Fleetway) to comply.

Shadow's quills fawned out a little at the thought of him hurting Sonic, but he finally sighed in defeat. "Fine. What else?"

"Uh..." Kylie frowned, a little surprised, that there hadn't been more resistance. "Nothing, that I can think of now. You'll learn everything you need in the class and if there are still questions, you can always call me. At decent times – or I'll have a talk with Sonic about the right behavior of Alphas' mates, got it?," she added.

"Fine.," the seme growled again, knowing, that she meant it. "Good. How about we go together to the foyer? Sonic's for sure waiting there for-"

Before she had time to end, a familiar light lit up her office and Mephiles appeared on her desk.

"We have a situation.," he told her shortly and all three of them disappeared, before Kylie could even open her mouth to ask.

* * *

Several minutes before

Sonic had no problem with finding his way back to the foyer. He felt a bit irritated at himself for leaving like that, just because Kylie had mentioned sex, but going back would have just been weird. He just had to wait for Shadow to return and ask him about what he and Kylie talked about...after explaining to him, why he left the room so abruptly. Hopefully, he would have enough time to think about an answer – because right now, he didn't know, why he reacted so badly to the _thought_ of him and Shadow getting intimate. It wasn't, as if he had tried anything!

He reached the foyer and shook himself out of his thoughts for now, focusing on the persons in the room in front of him.

Mali was behind her desk and John was next to it, trying to pick up mountains of paper, that apparently Fleetway had blown there. While he was working, Mali made a show of how 'busy' she was with checking her appearance in a hand mirror.

"I already told you, I'm sorry. That was stupid of me.," John grumbled, just as Sonic had silently entered.

"Finally you admit it.," Mali chuckled, snapping her mirror shut, bending to the side and taking the staple from John's hands.

"Seriously – NOW you're helping me?," he complained. "You need help with bringing them in the right order, don't you?," Mali replied, already going through the papers.

"I suppose.," John mumbled, for some reason blushing a little, which the woman didn't notice.

Sonic was just about to make his presence known, so he wouldn't listen in to their talk anymore, when a loud shout let him and the two humans flinch.

"HUMAN!"

"What in the-!?" John jumped up, but flinched back, when he recognized Happy's two seme-boyfriends, who looked beyond furious.

"You! What have you done to Happy!?," the green seme growled, while the other cracked his knuckles threateningly.

John gulped. "Look, I didn't think about it, I just lost him, while I fled from Fleetway, honest. I swear, I didn't mean for him to get shaken off!," John defended himself. "But, that's what happened!," the brown furred seme snarled, while they closed in on him.

"Would you two knock it off already!?," Happy all but shouted and Sonic whipped around to see the red uke and his purple furred boyfriend coming through the wall.

Or, well, through something sticking to the wall. It looked at first like ice, but Sonic discarded that thought quickly. Ice wasn't dark purple, as far as he knew.

Happy was leaning on his boyfriend, he seemed a little unsteady on his feet. A bruise was on the side of his head, but otherwise, he seemed alright.

The two semes were focusing on the two ukes the second they had entered, apparently forgetting about John completely.

"Guys, I'm fine, I told you that already. It was an accident, I bumped my head, end of story. Leave John alone, it's no one's fault..." Happy had to interrupt his speech with a small hiss, grasping his head, when a nasty pulsing appeared there.

Although the sound was soft, its effect was instant. Immediately, the two semes whipped back to John, as if that was his fault, too.

And this time, they actually charged at the male, apparently intent on hurting him worse than their mate was.

Sonic wanted to interfere, but for some reason, Instinct Sonic saw no need for that and made sure, that he didn't move.

And really, just when they were centimeters away from attacking the frozen in place John, something light yellow appeared between mobians and human and pushed the semes away from John, actually making them slam into the wall, left and right from the entrance.

The light faded quickly and revealed Fleetway standing there with his arms crossed protectively over his chest, deep, quickly healing scratches on his arms, where the semes had hit him instead of John with their claws.

The swirls in his eyes shone brightly and his muzzle was twisted into a snarl. He was growling silently, but it became quiet quickly. The two semes were apparently unconscious, so the light seme had no reason for aggression anymore, it seemed. Slowly, he let his, completely healed, arms fall to his side.

Happy wanted to run to his mates, for sure wanting to treat their injuries, but the second he let go of his boyfriend, he already clutched his head, that hurt now especially badly.

"Easy, they don't look gravely injured.," his remaining boyfriend soothed, helping him to walk over slowly.

"You? But...why?," John asked silently, looking at the seme in shock. Why would he help _him_ of all people?

Before the male could answer – if he would, that was – Mephiles appeared in front of the light seme. "Where is Silver!?," he snarled. Fleetway cocked his head in a confused manner. "He just told me, that you kidnapped him! Where. Is. He!?," Mephiles growled deeply.

The light seme seemed to understand finally. He smirked, showing off his fangs, before it became bright behind the dark furred male and he whipped around to see a huge golden sphere filling out the foyer, hovering just above the backs of the chairs. Sonic's heart beat a little faster, when he saw, that in the sphere were people trapped.

And not any people: Kylie's children, Silver, Cream and Emma were in there. Silver had his hands outstretched and was creating a smaller sphere out of turquoise energy inside the golden one all around them, while the children clung fearfully to Alex, who was looking around. It didn't seem, as if any of them could see something outside the sphere.

While they watched, Alex asked Silver something, at least it looked like it, since no sound came out of the sphere.

Silver just shook his head, while Emma freed herself from the scared bundle around Alex and stepped next to Silver, who spoke frantically with her.

The girl, however, ignored him, looked straight ahead and somehow, Sonic had the feeling, that she was looking in _his_ eyes, despite not seeing him.

They held this weird eye contact for a second, before the girl stretched out her arm, pointing to something on Sonic's right.

He turned to the direction and saw Mephiles watching the sphere, trembling, his fists balled so tightly, that black blood was dripping from his palms. The white of his eyes, that Sonic could just make out before he turned slowly back to Fleetway, started to turn dark red. He was about to lose it and probably kill everyone present, while Fleetway still showed this creepy smile, completely unconcerned, which wasn't helping the situation at all.

This sight let Instinct Sonic react and he was in the next second already between the two semes.

"Fleetway, let Silver and the others out!," Sonic ordered, but the light furred male looked at him, as if he was talking in a foreign language.

"Alright, plan B.," Sonic thought and turned around to Mephiles, while his back quills rose a little, not comfortable with turning his back on an unpredictable seme like Fleetway.

Then again, the sight he was facing now didn't look much better. Mephiles was almost completely transformed into what Sonic knew was his far more dangerous form. His quills gave off small crackling noises, revealing their crystalline texture.

"Mephiles, cool it!," he tried to order again, relieved, when at least one of the males listened and the dark being transformed back, albeit reluctantly.

"He has Silver.," Mephiles growled as if to justify his actions, while the last of red bled from his eyes. "I know, but he's obviously not...aware of what he's doing, or what we are saying. I highly doubt, that violence is the answer here.," Sonic explained.

"So, what are you going to suggest!? If sounds can't come through, then oxygen might not be able to, either!," the male exclaimed, pointing to the sphere, that he would have already destroyed, if harming Silver in the process wouldn't still be a possible outcome.

Sonic frowned in worry, he was right. Then, he had a sudden idea, from that he had no clue, why it seemed to be a good one. "Get Kylie!," he more shouted, than ordered.

Mephiles raised a brow. "Why?," he asked. "Don't ask, do it!," Sonic pretty much snapped and with a shrug, the male disappeared, to hopefully get her.

Sonic turned around again, but Fleetway hadn't moved from the spot, merely put his head to the side again, like a very disturbing, confused puppy. He seemed to try and process, why Mephiles was suddenly gone.

John behind him wasn't daring to move a muscle and Mali followed the same strategy, her eyes darting between the two mobians in obvious fright.

In that second, Mephiles returned, having Kylie and Shadow at his side. Kylie discovered the sphere and its contents immediately and her jaw dropped. "What the-!?"

Fleetway disappeared from between Sonic and John and appeared again in front of the woman, grinning brightly.

"D-did you do that!?," Kylie stammered and the male nodded, for some reason very proud of himself. His tail even wagged, like that of a dog, that had just successfully brought the newspaper to its owner.

Kylie looked ready to scream at him for kidnapping her children, possibly to beat him up as well, but then she stopped and frowned in thought.

To Sonic's surprise, he watched the corners of her mouth move slowly up, although it was visibly forced and he could hear her grit her teeth to swallow all profanities she probably had on her tongue right now.

Finally, she had managed a very creepy looking, forced smile. "Ah, yes, thank you, Fleetway.," she pressed out, although it was pretty clear to everyone, that she wanted to say the opposite. "I've been...er...looking for them already."

She turned to Mephiles. "Won't you...thank him, too? He...er...found...Silver!," she argued, something urgent in her voice.

"Oh, I _gladly_ introduce him to his insides as a thanks.," the male growled lowly. "Mephiles, now!," Kylie hissed under her breath.

The male sneered, but finally complied. "Thank you, Fleetway.," he growled in a tone, that rather suggested, that he meant, _I'm going to kill you. Slowly. And painfully_.

Fleetway looked happy at his words still, his tail wagging like crazy and small, pleased purrs escaping his throat.

And then, to everyone's immense relief, the sphere dissolved, setting its passengers gently to the ground, thanks to Silver's own sphere, that disappeared, as soon, as it touched the floor.

Silver all but collapsed, directly into Mephiles' arms. "Mephy.," Silver smiled tiredly, not having to open his eyes to recognize his mate.

"Are you alright?," Mephiles asked, picking him up, since he didn't seem able to hold himself up.

"Yeah, we all are. I protected everyone.," the young uke stated weakly. "I know, and I'm so proud of you.," Mephiles nodded and kissed his temple.

"Mommy!," Hope and Vanessa cried and ran to her, in her arms, clinging tightly to her and even tighter, when they spotted Fleetway, who watched the interaction curiously.

"Don't worry, it's okay.," Kylie soothed, stroking their heads, turning them away from the sight. "The scary hedgehog kidnapped us and locked us up in this creepy ball!," Hope cried.

"I know, I'm sure, you were scared. But you were so brave, all of you. I'm proud of you.," Kylie smiled and hugged them.

"Can we please not be brave anymore?," Vanessa asked, her bottom lip quivering. "Of course.," Kylie smiled and just held her children, as they started to wail into her chest.

While trying to soothe them, she glared at Fleetway over their heads and he seemed to get the message, since he disappeared and didn't come back.

"We didn't even get our ice cream.," Hope sniffed after a few minutes, her priorities clear here...which was probably for the best. The less she focused on the traumatic experience, the better.

"You can still have it, if you like. But this time, we'll make Fleetway pay for it.," Kylie grinned.

"He'll come with us?," Vanessa asked, worried, letting herself out of her arms to look up at her mother.

"Oh no, then it wouldn't be a punishment, would it? No, instead you'll go, have the biggest sundaes and sum up the prizes for Fleetway, so he can give the money back to Alex.," Kylie chuckled with a big grin, that infected her daughters and had them giggling.

Sonic sweatdropped. He felt kind of bad for their future children and partners. They would pay dearly for every disobedience and upset they would cause, it seemed, when their future mothers and wives already learned how to punish now.

"Can we make up prices?," Hope asked mischievously. "Sure. Just don't overdo it. Make that bill convincing and I'll make sure, that he pays, okay?," Kylie smiled and her daughters nodded happily.

They let go of their mother and turned to the others. "Wanna go?," they asked at the same time.

From the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Mist appearing in a corner, gratefully bowing his head towards Kylie, who returned the gesture subtly, for sure thanking her for freeing and calming Hope. Just a second later, he already disappeared again, before his daughter was aware of his presence.

"Of course.," Cream smiled at the sisters' question, Cheese in her arms squeaking in agreement. It was speaking volumes of her previous adventures, that she didn't even hesitate to answer, or was more shaken up. Emma smiled as well, nodding.

Alex wasn't asked, since this was his idea to begin with, so all eyes went to Silver, who hadn't let go of his seme, yet.

Noticing, that no one was talking anymore, Silver looked over to the excited kids. "Only, if Mephy can come, too.," he bargained.

Vanessa frowned and looked at the seme. "Does he even eat ice cream?," she asked, cocking her head to the side and narrowing her eyes a bit.

"Vanessa, we don't talk about people in the third person, when they are in the room and able to listen!," Kylie lectured and Hope looked up at her and nodded, taking in the information.

Vanessa just sighed, almost exasperated, before she straightened. "Sorry, Mephy.," she apologized.

"I'd prefer Mephiles.," the seme grumbled, getting a rare glare from Silver. "What I wanted to say is, I forgive you. It was nothing anyway. And yes, I eat ice cream.," he corrected, being rewarded with a nuzzle.

"Alright, let's go!" And the children ran out, in their excitement for sweets completely oblivious to the two still knocked out semes next to the door.

Happy had by now managed to reach the green furred one, but there was apparently nothing to be concerned about, he just had his head in his lap, stroking his quills, with his other two boyfriends mirroring the position on the other side of the door.

Mephiles started moving as well, carrying Silver bridal style with no complaints of the silver furred uke at all. He seemed happy to be off his feet.

Where the dark seme had stood, was suddenly something sprouting, looking like a dark purple blossom, that grew more and more by the second.

Shadow backed off, just in case, while Kylie and Alex watched the thing grow with little interest. A quick glance behind him told Sonic, that Mali and John hadn't seen something like that, unlike the two Ellens.

The thing stopped growing, finally, its thin tip on Kylie's eye level. It glowed a little in purple, before falling apart, into small particles, drifting away like dust. Behind the dust cloud appeared a familiar shape and when the cloud was gone, there stood Mephiles, looking a little too casual for someone, who had just grown out of nothing.

"What in Chaos' name!?," Shadow exclaimed, looking to the door, through that Mephiles had just left.

"Where's Silver?," he asked. "With my original, where he belongs.," the Mephiles-copy replied.

"You are...a clone?" "If you wish to call me like that.," the creature shrugged nonchalantly. "You're just like Mephiles, like an absolutely identical twin. Not even your Chaos Energy is different, which is naturally impossible..."

Shadow frowned. "...Did Mephiles send you in fights with me!?," he asked distrustfully. "I exist since ten seconds, so no. However, creating the likes of me doesn't take much time, so..." The doppelganger let the sentence hang with a smirk.

Kylie cleared her throat. "I'm pretty sure, that Mephiles didn't create you to taunt Shadow.," she remarked dryly.

"Indeed. My original wishes to know, what was wrong with Fleetway and if he may rip his insides apart and decorate the front of the Uke Shelter with them. Also, I shall bring your son to my original after the talk, his sisters are already asking for him and you should know, that his patience is wearing thin."

"Since Mephiles is most likely connected with you, you will help me to relay the following message: No, you can't tear Fleetway apart, one drop of blood on the building and you will scrub the whole house with your own hands – and touch one of my children and you will regret the day you put yourself into my service, did I make myself clear?," she growled darkly. "Perfectly.," the male nodded.

"Good. Then allow me to explain Fleetway's behavior – and believe me, had I known this, I wouldn't have done what I did. Fleetway kidnapped my children and your mate, because he wanted to help us."

"Help us? With what!? Getting a heart attack!?," the dark doppelganger growled. He seemed to be some kind of living mobile, repeating Mephiles' words, that he sent most likely with telepathy, or something along those lines. Otherwise, he would get weird looks from the ones around him...

"Nothing like that. He most likely saw my children and Silver crossing his way and thought, that we had lost them. He wanted to do us a favor and return them to us."

"Why? It's not like we were searching for them.," Mephiles' doppelganger argued for his original.

"Fleetway acted merely on instincts, his logic wasn't exactly switched on. He simply thought, that children belong to their mothers and ukes to their mates. Seeing them away from us meant, that we got separated – at least for him."

"And why did he feel the need to 'help' us?" "Remember the incident in Saha?," Kylie asked back.

The doppelganger looked at her. "You're kidding, right?," he asked, when he – or better, his original – realized, what she meant.

"Nope. He's grateful towards you, John and me and tries everything to express this gratitude. Every seme has a different way of expressing gratitude – and I had no idea, that this was his way."

"...Will he try to kidnap Silver again?," Mephiles asked after a short pause. "I'll try to get through his head, that he has no right to touch my kids or your mate, when I see him tomorrow, but I can't make any guarantees. Lightning semes are sadly slow on the intake.," Kylie sighed.

"I'm sure I can speed things up.," Mephiles let his copy growl. "Mephiles, he can't be made responsible for his instinctual actions.," Kylie lectured.

Seeing, that this wasn't exactly a satisfying answer, she added, "Let me try first. If I fail, you may try – but promise me to keep him alive. He's only meaning well...in his own, heart attack-causing way.," Kylie compromised.

"Fine, I'll give you a chance. Now, my time is running out. We need to leave.," he told the silently listening Alex.

"In a sec.," he replied and moved forwards, towards his mother, engulfing her quickly in a hug. Kylie gasped silently in surprise, having apparently not expected the gesture from her almost adult son, but returning it after the initial moment of shock.

"For a second there, I thought, that not even a hero could save us.," Sonic heard him whisper in his mother's ear. "I'm kind of glad, that you were there to help us.," he added.

"Always and forever.," Kylie replied, tightening her hug, before they separated and the Mephiles-copy and the boy disappeared without another word.

Kylie took a sigh of relief, before going over to Happy, while Shadow went over to Sonic to make sure, that he was unharmed.

The Alpha, as if to prove Kylie's explanation from earlier to be right, moved away from his boyfriend, before he could reach him and walked over to John and Mali, who still seemed quite shaken.

"You alright?," he asked John, who flinched, as if Sonic had sneaked up on him and screamed. "Y-yeah...," he stammered, nodding a bit.

"Mali?," the Alpha questioned, but the woman looked at nothing in particular with a blank stare, almost without blinking. She was ghostly pale and looked strangely unattached from her surroundings.

"M-Mali? You... okay?," John tried, after noticing the silence, but received the same response – none.

"Oh no!," Sonic heard someone gasp behind him and he turned around to see Zen rush towards them, throwing the book he had held over his shoulder on the way and the blue hero wasn't so sure, if he meant for Shadow to catch it, or just didn't think about it at all, but the seme did catch it either way.

Reaching the woman, Zen looked around, for sure trying to find out, what the reason for her behavior was.

His eyes landed on John. "John, would you please get out of here?," he asked. "Huh?," the young man questioned. "Mali can't stand the sight of blood.," Zen explained.

John's eyes widened and he looked down on himself. His front was splattered with tiny droplets of Fleetway's blood from when he protected him. The floor was also splattered with those small droplets, although they were far easier to ignore or miss.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier!?," John exclaimed and ran from the room to where the restrooms were, while Sonic came closer, shielding the remaining blood from view with his body. As long as Mali faced the floor, he rather not had her see it.

Zen noticed it and smiled gratefully, before turning to Mali and gently touching her hand, that jerked a bit upon contact.

"It's alright, Mali, nobody's going to hurt you.," he soothed. "Close your eyes.," he coaxed and eventually, the woman complied.

Gradually, she became calmer, a small smile growing on her face, while her eyes were still closed.

Finally, she sighed and opened her eyes, looking at Zen. "Thanks, Zen, you always know, how to make me feel better.," she smiled at him. "That's, what friends are for.," the yellow male replied, while discreetly taking over Sonic's place, so he didn't need to stand still all the time to hide the blood.

Mali raised a brow and was for sure about to question this behavior, when Happy called for her attention.

"Er, yes?," she asked, quickly turning around to the red furred hedgehog, who looked suddenly pretty mad.

"Do you have a pen and two post-it notes for me?," Happy asked with a slight growl in his voice.

"Sure. But why?," Mali asked, while giving the requested items out and watching Happy starting to scribble on the first one.

"Oh, just to inform our idiot-boyfriends, that they have the hog-house booked for-" He paused and looked at his lavender furred boyfriend. "Two weeks. One for each of them.," he declared with his own growl in his voice.

Happy smirked. "Did I ever tell you, how much I love you?," he asked and went back to writing.

"In the last 24 hours? No.," the other male replied with a chuckle. "Remind me to make it up to you. After all, we have _a lot_ of time now to ourselves. As to answer your question, Mali, our oh so lovely boyfriends have apparently harassed John for a while now, so that he wouldn't be so in need of me anymore. I'm just glad, that they never became physically violent, until today. Now I'm actually glad, this lunatic knocked them out. I don't think, that I would be able to take their puny excuses, that was an attempt to undermine my authority as a Healer..."

Happy paused again, turning to his remaining mate. "Three weeks hog-house?," he asked, having obviously realized, that the punishment he had suggested earlier wasn't enough.

"Fine with me.," the other shrugged and Happy nodded, changed the twos to threes and then they both went to place the notes on their boyfriends' laps, where they would find the notes quickly. "There. That should teach them.," Happy stated proudly.

"What is this 'hog-house'?," Sonic asked no one in particular, since everyone besides him and Shadow seemed to know.

"An apartment-complex for misbehaving semes, here, on these grounds. In each little flat are just couches, to get the point across. Semes have to stay there for the amount of days they are given and aren't allowed to get closer to their mates or boyfriends, unless they do.," Zen explained.

Seeing Sonic raise a brow at the last part, he added, "Most ukes can't stand it to be apart from their mates for as long as they said before."

"And next time, you might give me a hint a little earlier.," Happy told Kylie with an accusing tone in his voice.

"Would you have believed me?," she asked with a shrug. Happy sighed. "Good point." He winced and held his head again, apparently the bruise was bothering him once more.

He looked up at Kylie. "Just for the record: drilling holes in my skull to relieve the pressure is...?" "...about as stupid as it can be. That practice was outdated centuries ago.," Kylie finished the sentence.

"I see. Good to know.," Happy nodded. "And hopefully you keep it in mind. He always wants to treat our headaches like that.," the purple furred uke shook his head, walked over to Happy and kissed his cheek. "I'll get you some aspirin, alright?," he offered sweetly.

Happy smiled. "My instincts scream no, but my headache says 'Thank you, Shine'.," he grinned and nuzzled him. The purple male, apparently Shine, chuckled again and went off with a wave.

"Happy, would you feel up to a small medical discussion?," Kylie asked carefully, wanting him to know, that he had a choice.

The male shrugged. "I can try. What is it? You rarely ask me for advice." His curiosity was obviously stronger, than the pain.

"It's about Sonic." Sonic actually flinched a bit hearing that, before he remembered, that Kylie had wanted to ask Happy about the drug remains in his spine.

"I'm all ears.," Happy replied. "You see, Sonic has a substance in his spine, that doesn't belong there. Modern medicine can't help with removing it.," Kylie explained.

"Well, I can take a look...just stay close in case my instincts urge me to do something strange.," Happy mused, before turning to Kylie.

He went to the seats and sat on one, Kylie staying behind him. "Sonic, mind coming here? I try to see, what I can do.," he explained.

"Er...right here?," Sonic wondered. "...Healers don't exactly think, that privacy for an examination is something needed. In fact, I read stories about healers helping ukes and females to give birth in the middle of the colony's village.," Kylie explained to underline, that there was nothing she could do. Happy was in healer-mode, he wouldn't understand, that Sonic would want privacy. She was just glad, that he didn't need to examine something embarrassing.

Since Mali was getting the problem and pretending to be busy and Zen interested himself in a random plant, Sonic felt reassured and went over. "Just take a seat next to me and show me your back – let's pretend, that this isn't totally impolite.," he grinned and Sonic found himself chuckling. Something about Happy was really calming.

He sat down in the desired position, his quills bristling nervously, still. Shadow had joined him and was sitting in front of him, offering his hand, that Sonic grabbed without realizing it, squeezing it hard.

"Okay, I know, that you are nervous, all hedgehogs would be in this position. Just try to be calm, I'm only here to help you.," Happy spoke with a soft voice behind him and Sonic asked himself, if this was a healer's thing, because he felt strangely reassured and relaxed.

"Now, try to keep your quills down, I'm just putting my hand on your back and not moving it, at least for a while.," Happy continued and true to his word, Sonic felt his hand, gently placed between his quills, against his back.

It was a very vulnerable position for him, but Shadow's presence and Happy's calm nature were keeping him in a relaxed enough state.

"Hm...," Happy mumbled thoughtfully and Sonic felt him adjust his hand a little. "Well, the good news is, I can locate the substance you mean. The better news is, I know how to get rid of it, without harming you. The bad news is, I can't remove it right now."

He took his hand away, allowing Sonic to turn around to face him, while Shadow questioned, "Why?"

Sonic rolled his eyes, while facing Happy, apologizing for his mate's behavior with a small grin.

Happy just smiled, before turning to Shadow. "I can remove the substance by entering your mate's spine with very thin needles out of Chaos Energy-"

"WHAT!?" Shadow jumped up. "You want to do WHAT with my mate!?," he exclaimed. As a fighter using Chaos Energy, he knew, how dangerous this energy could be.

Happy looked at him, not amused. "I already did. I removed a little bit of the substance during my examination to see, how well that works. And does he look paralyzed to you?," he asked coolly.

Sonic could tell, that he had not felt anything and no, he wasn't paralyzed. Happy had done a great job.

"What is the reason we have to wait?," he asked, pretending, as if Shadow hadn't said anything.

"For such a procedure I need concentration and a lot of energy, that I both don't have right now.," Happy replied, ignoring Shadow, too. "My head is starting to hurt again, which means I can't concentrate properly and I have treated a lot of people today, so my energy resources are pretty depleted.," he added, keeping the fact, that Sonic had been one of those he had treated, a secret.

"So, when can you do this thing?," Sonic asked. "Sonic, you really want-!?," Shadow started, but getting shut up by a triple glare – who would have thought, that two ukes and one woman could look this scary?

"Well, I would need a week of vacation, meaning time, where I don't have to use my powers at all, I'd say.," Happy replied, as if he hadn't been interrupted, having quickly calculated.

A big smile appeared on his face. "Well, I'm two boyfriends short – what better opportunity for some quality time, just Shine and me? ...oh, and John.," he quickly added, although the man wasn't even present to feel offended for being almost forgotten.

"You'd take John with you?," Sonic questioned. "I have to. My instincts urge me to keep John close to me. A hundred meter, or less. They tolerated less once, so that's an improvement. Ow!," Happy exclaimed and held his head, apparently feeling a new headache pulsing.

Sonic frowned. "It's maybe a stupid question – but can't you heal yourself?," he asked carefully.

Happy chuckled tiredly. "Sadly, no. Healers can't heal themselves, unless they are gravely injured. A little headache is easily cured without my powers, so my instincts don't allow me to waste my energy for myself."

"They see this as a waste?" "Yep. Seeing, that healers only got injured during attacks on the colony, they needed their energy to heal others."

"They never had to deal with unruly patients, that hurt them, if only accidentally?" "Not, if they were mobians. Their instincts told them to trust the healers and to not harm us. If they were in a great amount of pain and could lash out, or if the healers dealt with humans, they got bodyguards, that would wrestle the patients down, if necessary. The healers were the most important people in the colony, even more important than the Alphas, or well, at least _as_ important. They needed to be unharmed to keep the colony alive."

"Sounds tough.," Sonic mumbled. "Not really. Healers had everything they needed to stay healthy, they just needed a bit help with staying unharmed.," Happy shrugged.

Sonic blinked. This was the exact opposite to him! He could take care of himself – but a bit of help was necessary, if he wanted to stay healthy.

"Besides, healers aren't so necessary anymore, so I don't feel the pressure that often. Just when I have to heal a bigger injury, but that's rare.," Happy continued with Sonic nodding thoughtfully.

Kylie smirked to herself. It hadn't been planned, but Happy had already started to do a little reassuring-therapy with Sonic. It was usual, that healers took care of Alphas, who doubted themselves and tried to build up their confidence, if they didn't seem able to do so on their own. He had actually done the same for her.

She just hadn't wanted to tell Sonic earlier, that he could ask a healer like Happy, so he wouldn't assume, that he absolutely needed his advice to go on. He would probably feel the need to talk certain things through with him from time to time – and Happy would eagerly comply –, but that wasn't so bad, and still better, than being consciously depending on him.

"Alright, I'll go then. Shine will have to wrestle me down to have me take the aspirin, that my instincts see as 'unnatural and therefore dangerous'...and I honestly don't want to have an audience for that. It was nice to meet you and your mate. I'm sure, Kylie will see to it, that we stay in contact, so I can treat you soon. Goodbye." With a polite bow, Happy turned and left the foyer.

"Sonic?," Mali called gently, once the red furred hedgehog was gone from sight. The hero turned to her to see her holding a rather large paper bag. "Your prescription.," she explained.

Sonic raised a brow and turned to Kylie. "How much medicine did you prescribe me? I thought, that it wasn't that much!," he argued.

"Technically, it isn't." Kylie moved over to Mali and took the bag. She walked to Sonic and gave the rather heavy object to him. "Look for yourself.," she offered and he didn't need to be told twice.

Opening the bag, he fished the first item he could grab out, which was a small bottle with a light green fluid in it.

"That's for your mentioned baths. Just add the prescribed amount in the bath water and it will take care of the drugs in your organs. One bath should last at least fifteen minutes, but not longer than thirty.," Kylie explained, showing him on the label, where the mentioned amount was scribbled on. "Nicole calculated the amount needed, so that should be fine."

"Should!?," Shadow growled. "Shadow, relax. I don't want Sonic dead or in pain, just as much as you – and no, I'm not interested in him this way. And also no, not because I think in any way, that he doesn't look great.," she explained quickly. Sonic looked at her with a raised brow.

"Semes need to hear that, or they assume things.," Kylie explained with a shake of her head and Sonic just nodded, not questioning her, and took out the next items, two small orange plastic bottles, one with strangely formed and colored objects in it, while the other's contents were small and round.

"This is the medicine we talked about, the one, that will help your nightmares.," Kylie explained, silencing her voice a bit, while pointing to the one with the strangely formed pills.

"Ah..." Sonic uncapped the bottle and looked at its contents. The 'pills' were rather oval and looked – and smelled – like rolled up leaves. "It's a herb, in its purest form. We roll them like this with a bit of honey – so don't forget to brush your teeth after taking them. Nicole calculated the amount, but if it doesn't work, tell me and we'll heighten the dose together. Okay?"

"Sure.," Sonic nodded. "And the others?" "Herbal painkillers, mostly against your headaches. I figured, that you could take them easier, than something chemical right now. As a bonus, they can help your fever, and also your nausea, unless it's very strong. There are no known side effects, so don't worry about that."

"I see, thanks.," Sonic smiled at her thoughtfulness, opened the cap and, to Shadow's horror, took two, just like prescribed on the label. As they were so tiny, he could swallow them easily enough without water.

"S-," Shadow started, but earned another glare. "One more time doubting Kylie and her methods, and I'll try this hog-house out.," (Instinct) Sonic threatened darkly, before he rummaged again through the bag.

Shadow swallowed thickly and looked at Kylie, whose look said everything – _as I said, don't question an Alpha in public_. He hated it, when she was right.

He watched, how Sonic pulled out a large, thick book next. "Ah, yes. That's a very detailed manual on how to use your medication and how to treat you during your recovery. There are also chapters meant for some other, basic illnesses, that even Alphas can contract.," the woman explained.

"And that's for...?" "Who do you think?," Kylie smirked and nodded over to Shadow. "Hey!," the seme complained, but didn't say more. Sonic was tired, had most likely a headache and wasn't in the mood for dealing with an unruly mate. Having realized that now, he held himself back. He really hoped, that he would learn how to understand Sonic's feelings right, and fast. Currently, he didn't feel very capable of it.

"Besides, I'm sure, that it would assure Tails a great bit to have something to consult, you know, just in case. You can keep it, we have plenty more.," Kylie continued.

"...And what's that?," Sonic asked, who pulled out the last item – a large bundle of different herbs, kept together with a few strings.

"Herbs, obviously. You will need a special diet to make up for all the meals you missed lately. It will take your stomach a few days to be ready for chili dogs again. There are also herbs, that can be brewed as teas to help stronger nausea, or vomiting. The recipes – with very clear pictures of each plant – are also in the book."

Sonic pouted at hearing the first part, but didn't say anything. He knew, that Kylie would just argue with him, until she got her will, beating him with logic.

"Oh, before I forget, here are your appointments.," Mali brought attention back to her, waving three slips of paper through the air.

Zen raised a brow, for sure wanting to ask, what she meant, so Shadow hurried to grab those papers from Mali, giving Zen his book back, while he was at it, and returning to Sonic, giving him his paper.

Sonic looked at it and was suddenly very grateful, that Zen hadn't seen the paper. He didn't think, that the words 'Sexual Education' could have been printed any bigger and bolder. According to the date, if he had been able to keep track of time as much as he had hoped, that is, then he would have the appointment in a week.

If he didn't feel well enough by that time, then he would have to call the number at the bottom of the paper to reschedule the appointment. Yeah, that would be an interesting conversation.

Not wanting Tails to see the piece of paper, he slipped it into the book he had held in his arm all the time. Shadow sent his own already ahead, together with Sonic's prescription bag and the borrowed book, following for sure the same train of thought.

"Alright, let's wrap this up. I can't wait to sleep in my bed again.," Sonic decided. "Of course. You can always come by, whenever you like, or just call.," Kylie smiled. That had Sonic actually blinking.

"Er...Kylie? Where exactly are we?," he slowly asked. The woman paused, before laughing, since they could indeed not know by the way they came here, and telling them.

* * *

The woman was just done and in the process of giving them the code to reach the Garage, when a figure entering the foyer caught Sonic's eye.

It was Scythe. She acknowledged the two passed out semes with a raised brow, before going over to the receptionist. "Hey, Mali. Do you have one of the keys for those houses? You know, the ones, that are meant to be wrecked tomorrow?" "Well, yes, but those are meant for the semes!," the woman replied. "I'm sure they can part with one. Just give me the smallest." Since Mali was obviously not convinced, Scythe went on. "It's not for me, but for Pinky."

Sonic frowned. Wasn't that the nickname Scythe had given Amy? He bent forwards on his seat to look past Kylie to the glass door, through that she had come and his jaw dropped upon seeing the hedgette standing outside and talking animatedly with Mighty.

Her dress was ripped in countless places, her hammer she swung during her talk was dented badly, her quills disheveled and her fur dirtied with – hopefully just – mud and moss. A few sticks were sticking out of her quills and leaves tangled into her dress.

"Did you have an accident!?," he asked Scythe. "Huh?," the girl turned around to him. A second later, she laughed. "Nonsense! She was just blowing off some steam. Hammered rocks to dust for hours. But she needs something different now." With that Scythe turned back to Mali, looking at her expectantly.

"You are aware, that the houses are meant to be wrecked because they are on the verge of collapsing anyway, or because there are poisonous materials in the structure – you can't just take a child to there!," Mali lectured.

"I'm sure there's one you can find.," Scythe insisted. Mali fidgeted. "Well, there is an old sky scraper. Its only problem is its inefficiency concerning energy, that's why it shall be built anew."

"Are the floors still furnished?" "Partly." "Perfect. Pinky can hammer a few floors to debris, including desks, chairs and shelves and who knew what else! And the semes can clean up after us. Great! Do you have the keys?," Scythe asked. "Er, here." Mali gave her one.

"Thanks. See you around. Curi, would you stop that?" Scythe had turned around after her second sentence and spotted her wolf, sitting next to Sonic and staring at the hedgehog, who hadn't noticed the animal, until the hedgette had called him.

The hero looked down on the small wolf, noticing the yellow eyes studying him intently. Or well, so it seemed at least.

"Curi, heel.," Scythe ordered and the wolf immediately obeyed. "Sorry about that. It's maybe a scent you carry, or something.," she apologized with a nod.

"No sweat, no harm done. So, Amy seems pretty...enthusiastic.," the blue hedgehog replied.

Scythe snickered. "Nothing helps more against a broken heart, than burning your energy – and she has tons of energy. She has a lot of frustration built up due to your constant running away from her."

"She told you of that?," Sonic asked, surprised. "Not really, but you can learn a lot from the things she screams at the rocks and trees, before turning them into pebbles and toothpicks.," Scythe shrugged.

Sonic sweatdropped. "Seems, as if I shouldn't go so close to her, huh?" "Well, at least not for a few more days, I'd say. Don't worry, I'll take care of her anger and hatred. And Curi of her tears.," she added with a smile down to the wolf licking its paw.

"Thank you for being there for her.," Sonic thanked her in earnest. He understood, that he couldn't be and he was kind of glad, that the scythe fighter was, instead.

Amy had told him quite a lot of the hedgette and it had become obvious, that she was some kind of idol for the younger, even though they had only spent a few hours together. Besides, Mighty wouldn't be friends with her, if she was a bad person.

"No problem, I always wanted a sister. I mean, a sister, who can pack a punch. I love Kari and Emma to pieces, but they can be a little boring sometimes to be around...and if Shy asks, I never said that. She would skin me alive.," she shook her head with a grin. "I need to go, Pinky looks a little frustrated again. Don't worry, I'll let you know, how she's doing."

"...How?," Sonic asked. She didn't know his contact data as far as he knew – and Amy would probably deny his very existence right now...

Scythe smirked. "That's for me to know and for you to find out. Come, Curi, we leave." And she left, Curi following her, after a last look at Sonic.

"Curi's acting pretty strange, doesn't he? He's rarely this fixated on someone other than Scythe!," Mali mumbled towards Zen. Hearing no response, she turned to see, that the wolf wasn't the only one with a certain fixation on the hero. "Zen, you alright?" The uke flinched out of his thoughts. "Yes, don't worry. I was just a bit daydreaming.," he reassured. "And here I thought, that you as master of meditation never lose focus.," Mali teased. "Hey!," Zen complained, just as playfully.

Sonic looked after the scythe fighter. "Eating ice cream and breaking a few things, huh?," he repeated Kylie's words questioningly, looking up to her. "In my defense – none of my friends has a hammer.," the woman shrugged, causing all of them – besides Shadow – to laugh.

* * *

AAAND DONE! Phew, another chapter up - and I FINALLY ended the first day in my story. Man, I didn't think, that that would take SO long. The story should progress a bit faster from now on.

I sadly can't say, when the next chapter will come up. I'm still busy with university stuff, as I said, and will visit my family soon, too, which naturally cuts my writing time shorter. But you know me, I always hurry!

Have a nice weekend!


	12. 11: Tick, Tock

Hi guys, I'm back! I'm terribly sorry for letting you wait for so long, I had a severe case of writer's block and it took me a while to get back on track...and editing 28000 words (~40 pages in a document) takes a while, too...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

**_WARNING!_**

You know, what this means. It's just a small paragraph and if you have a problem with gore, skip it. Thanks!

**_END OF WARNING!_**

* * *

**11: Tick, Tock**

"Sir, we've landed.," the steward informed quietly. "Good.," Michael Mills replied shortly, closing the file he had been reading. He had been too concentrated to notice the landing, so the bit of obvious information was needed...this time.

He stood up, put the confidential file away, knowing, that nobody in the plane would touch it, if they wanted to live, and left the plane.

"Stay around, I'll be back shortly.," he told the crew waiting for orders at the foot of the stairs and turned away, facing the old wooden hut on a hill he had been told to go to.

"Fancy.," he muttered sarcastically. He would have turned around right now and left this Chaos forsaken place in an instance, but if he wanted their end of the bargain, he had to keep his.

He pushed the rusty, horribly creaking gates in the metal fence surrounding the hill open, wiping his hands against his easily enough replaceable, expensive pants to get the moss off, and marched the hill up quickly, not wanting to spend more time here than necessary.

The door swung open with a long drawn creaking, when he had just reached the wooden steps, but there was nobody visible inside and not even a breeze disturbed the scenery.

Raising a brow, but choosing not to let himself get intimidated by that, he climbed the groaning stairs and entered the musty cavern called a hut.

He stayed in the doorway, observing the room, that was full of dust, but otherwise empty. Not even a single piece of furniture was there to be seen, let alone windows.

His eyes roamed the room and stopped at a staircase, that led into the underground. What _hut _had a _cellar_?

Since there was nowhere else to go, he stepped into the hut and went closer to the staircase.

The door slammed shut halfway to it and he whirled around to see, _why_ the room had been empty. Now plunged in darkness, as the door had been the only source of light when open, he could see the strange symbols, that covered the walls, floor and ceiling, glowing in a mysterious, violet hue. To top it off, he suddenly felt something move around his legs, but when he looked down, he saw nothing. When he exhaled in relief, a small cloud came out of his mouth, as if he had entered a fridge. Shadows started to dance across the walls, getting longer and longer, as if they were closing in on him...

Feeling a bit..._worried_ now, he went a bit quicker than necessary to the staircase and descended the stairs, kind of glad, when he lost all sight of the room. Although he wasn't so sure, if the new sight was any better...

The room downstairs looked like an entirely different world. In its middle was some kind of dark violet colored, bubbling and pulsing quagmire, filling the space almost completely and seeming to be radioactive above anything else.

Even more shadows than upstairs seemed to move around in the light, but had no visible bodies, that could cast them.

A silent choir of whispers filled the room, interrupted only by muffled groans, that _definitely_ came from the boards of the stairs, they just had to!

The light, that the strange thing in the middle of the room emitted, was pulsing slightly faster, seemingly growing stronger, while the whispers turned also louder, which wasn't really motivating Michael to leave those stairs and go closer to that...light pool, or whatever. For a reason he couldn't name, he suddenly felt surrounded. "What is this?," he mumbled, without actually noticing it.

"You are staring at the doorway to Hell.," a voice answered, not whispering like the others, and to his horror, a person emerged out of this purple thing, as if leaving a pool. It was a human woman...or well, it once had been.

Now, it was a walking skeleton with long, dirty blue hair, a bluish skin, that was covering the bones tightly, wearing a tattered gray dress, the features of its face were inhumanly twisted to an ugly mask. "Who are you?," Michael asked, feeling braver, than he really was.

The person showed a grin with uneven, sharp teeth, the mouth wandering around the back of the head, up towards the ear opposite from where its mouth started, as he saw, when its lips opened. "Nothing, but a messenger between Here and There. I'm here to instruct you."

Michael's eyes narrowed. The fear vanished and got replaced by anger. Telling _him_ what to do!?

"Now wait a minute! Who tells me, that you'll keep your end of the bargain, when I'll do this...opening of Hell or whatever?," he demanded.

Truthfully, he didn't really believe, that he could open something like 'hell', even if the 'Jester Perringten' in his office had claimed that. He didn't even believe, that there was something like 'hell'. But for his end of the bargain, he'd bend over backwards, if necessary, so he'd play along for the time being.

The creature looked at him with something akin to a frown. As twisted as the face was – he wasn't even sure, if there were _eyebrows_ in this mess – it was hard to say, what was going through its mind. "You deny us our wish?," it asked with a dangerous, low voice and Michael found himself with his back to the wall, not remembering, when he had moved backwards.

He gasped a little despite himself, when the creature's shoulder lit up at once in dark red flames. Slowly, the creature turned its head to the fire and Michael narrowed his eyes. The flame...looked suddenly more like an animal, like a burning pet, a rat maybe, keeping itself on the shoulder with its burning claws. It and the human-like being looked at each other, before the 'animal' pretty much melted, dripping back into the quagmire.

The creature looked back to Michael. "You are in luck, we can wait. You are allowed to have your little dream fulfilled first."

"I didn't ask for permission!," Michael snarled. "Either way, you are first." The creature swung out its arm, and his little price emerged out of the strange pool from behind the creature, the head bowed.

Michael smirked victoriously. He didn't know, from where they had gotten his little sister from all of a sudden, but quite frankly, he didn't care. This meddlesome lawyer wanted Shyra, so he would give him Shyra. Besides, Perringten had promised, that she was perfectly obedient and would do everything told, so he could use her like he wished. Back in his office, she hadn't even recognized him, as if she had amnesia, or something. Perfect. He could mold her brain into whatever he wanted.

Speaking of his benefactor, though... "Where is this Jester Perringten?," he asked suspiciously. "Close, I assure you.," the creature replied.

"Why so secretive? I'm right here.," a new voice piped up from the other side of the railing, under the young business man's feet.

Michael stepped to the railing of the staircase and bent over it slightly to look down on a person leaning against the staircase, his arms crossed.

The purple light colored his hair so much, that it was impossible to tell, what it normally looked like. From what he could make out, the man was about his age, maybe a bit older, but not by much. And the voice wasn't the same he had heard in his office earlier...

"YOU are Jester Perringten?," Michael scoffed. "What can I say? Many things are different from what you expect. Now, as we agreed, you get the girl to do with her whatever you wish. However, in five months, you have to return to this place to fulfill your promise. If you don't, then you will regret it.," the third person explained.

"Are you threatening me!?," the youngest man in the room snarled. "Not at all, I'm merely warning you. You don't seem aware of it, but you can't make a deal like that and not keep your end of the bargain. If you refuse to keep it, you will regret it, until you do.," the creature explained, before it became bright, too bright for him to see.

He had to cover his eyes and when the blinding burning behind his arms finally subsided, there was nothing on the hill, but him and the obediently waiting girl. No hut, no purple quagmire from hell. Just them.

"Don't forget our deal.," the voice of the horrible creature whispered in the wind surrounding them for a moment, before traveling further.

"Pah.," Michael spat and turned to the girl. "We go.," he told her and was satisfied, that she didn't need more orders to do, what he asked.

Luck was finally on his side.

* * *

Just when the plane had taken off, the hut appeared again, as soundlessly, as it had disappeared.

The two beings from earlier stepped out the door, to watch the lights of the flying vehicle mingle with the night sky.

"He won't keep his end of the bargain, will he?," the male finally asked. "Of course not, he's a human. Did you expect him to?," she asked back.

"Maybe. Didn't you?" "Of course not." "You didn't?" "Of course not.," it sounded for the third time. "This was merely a test."

"A test?" "If he can find this place. If he can step into this hut without being killed on the spot. If he can reach the gate. He can, apparently, not even the seals hold him back. His soul is just the right mixture of evil and good to slip past undetected." "I don't feel any seals..." "Be grateful, that you aren't a creature from hell, these seals are too annoying. Not even in my vessel can I pass the outer perimeter."

"So...what now?," the male asked. "We prepare, for His return in five months.," she replied. "Prepare? How? And why wait so long?," he asked, not knowing of this part of the plan. From what he knew, the man from earlier should have opened the gate today, he had not shown his surprise, when he had been ordered to say something different to their visitor earlier.

The female showed a smile, that nearly sent her head falling off forwards. "Why? Because it'll make everything SO much sweeter. He would be too weak, if he was freed now. No, we'll prepare properly...and make sure, that there is nobody to interfere anymore..."

Seeing confusion and understanding both on her companion's face, she showed a dark, cold smile. "Just sit back and watch.," she grinned with a sadistic tone in her voice, that promised only the worst for the world, before they both disappeared in a dull black shine.

* * *

When Kylie had given her phone number to Shadow, she had guessed, that she would regret this decision one day. She just hadn't known, that this day would be the very same one.

After prying Tails from Snow and their inventions, which had taken a good 30 minutes, prying Knuckles from the reliefs – which Rouge had made quite easy with a small kiss to the guardian's cheek, that had the male so flustered, that he had pretty much fled from the storage room – and giving her number to her remaining friends (at least the ones, who wanted it), they had gone home with Chaos Control and Kylie had assumed, that she could end her working day now with researching how to handle Fleetway tomorrow. She had had half the mind to talk with DJ about her messing around with the scanner, but decided against it. She would do it again anyway.

Kylie should have known, that people like Shadow just didn't know, what 'decent times' meant.

Just about an hour later, he had already called her for the first time. Apparently, Sonic had taken the prescribed bath – and in mere seconds, the bath water had turned deep black.

A quick research – since this had never happened before – later she had been able to explain, that this could only mean, that Sonic's body was getting rid of the drug remains far faster, than Nicole had estimated and already gave it out via his skin. Alphas worked apparently differently to other ukes and made calculations quite useless...which she rather not told the AI. Even artificial creatures could fall into depression.

Shadow had then seen it as his duty to report all fifteen minutes to her, how Sonic was doing and anything special happening, like the bed sheets, where Sonic lay after the bath, turning slowly black, since his body was apparently still busy with getting rid of the drug remains, or the bruise Sonic got himself earlier in the Shelter forming visibly. He even called, when there was _nothing_ to report, just to report exactly that...

The frequent calls had stopped around midnight, when Alex, fed up by the annoying noise, had taken over the phone. She didn't know, what he had told him, since he had left the room for the ten minutes the talk had lasted, but it had taken effect. Shadow hadn't called again...until 8 am the next morning.

The ringing of her telephone – whose ring tone she _really_ didn't want to hear again, ever – woke her up. Rubbing her eyes and sitting up, she slowly came to awareness. Trying to stand up, she sent several books flying to the ground, that had been lying next to her on the mattress.

She grimaced. Alex would chew her out for sleeping in a nest of books again. She always tended to research and learn, until she fell asleep out of pure exhaustion and Alex had never made a secret out of how much he hated that.

He had a fantastic memory, one look at a book page and he could recite it flawlessly, but his mother couldn't. She needed longer to learn, which cut her sleeping hours often short. He had so many times offered to do the reading, to make notes for her to shorten the learning time, but she didn't want that too often. It was her job, after all, not his, and he was still in school. She didn't care, if he needed less than an hour for his homework, he was supposed to enjoy his life – not to learn stuff he would probably never need for someone else.

Following the sound of the telephone to the kitchen – she vaguely remembered, that Alex had left it there last night – she picked it up and answered the call. "Yes?," she yawned in the device.

"He's having a fever again.," a voice she remembered to be annoying for some reason greeted her.

"Huh? Who's having what?," she asked blearily, while pushing a button to get the coffee machine to work, so it would do its job – producing her and Alex' life essence.

She yelped, when the person on the telephone, that she had already forgotten to be at her ear, suddenly screamed, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'WHO'!?"

"Wah!" Kylie literally threw the device up in shock and had to fumble a bit to catch it again. Composing herself, she put it back against her ear. "Okay, I just woke up, so let's take this a bit slower. Who is on the line?," she asked, a little clearer in the head after the rude wake up-call.

A low growl answered her and just when she was convinced, that she had been called by some kind of bear, a voice followed the growl. "It's...Shadow."

"Ah. Hey, Shadow. So, Sonic has got another bout of fever?," Kylie asked, keeping the phone between her ear and shoulder, while starting to prepare the table.

Thankfully, there was no school today, so she didn't have to worry about her little ones missing it. Although Hope was technically two years old, she went to preschool with five year old children.

"That would be...correct.," Shadow answered, apparently confused, that she didn't need more time to understand, that Sonic was bad off.

"Alright, how high is his temperature?," Kylie asked. "Er...," Shadow trailed off and Kylie heard someone mumble in the background. "38,2 °C.," he repeated the answer.

Kylie stifled a small yawn, before answering, "Okay, that is just a slight temperature and probably serves to help his body getting rid of the drug remains. Does he still give out those?"

"No, he stopped with it a few hours ago, I already changed the sheets.," Shadow answered, while Kylie took out two big mugs and filled them with the bitter black liquid, one a bit under the edge, the other not as full.

Grabbing the fuller one, she took a quick sip, before speaking, "Good. Well, the temperature shouldn't be so bad. It might even rise a bit still, for the next two to five days, as a reaction to the removal of the drug remains. If the fever doesn't break by the end of the fifth day, you should bring him to the Shelter – or a hospital, it's the same, really – to get checked out. Also, bring him here, when the fever has broken. I'd like to scan him again to see, if there are still drug remains in him."

"Mommy?," she heard a small voice and looking up, she saw Vanessa in the door frame, rubbing her eyes.

"Hold on a second.," she told Shadow curtly and then smiled at her daughter. "Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?," she asked sweetly.

"Uhuh. Can we have pancakes for breakfast?," she asked. "No, you know the rules. If you had sweets for dinner, then there's only bread for breakfast. But we can make pancakes tomorrow.," Kylie explained. Yesterday, she and the others had eaten so much ice-cream, that it had become their dinner, they had been simply full.

"Okay.," Vanessa grumbled, put out a bit, because she wouldn't get her wish, but complying. "Go wash and wake your siblings, then we'll have breakfast.," Kylie went on. "Okay.," the girl repeated and trudged over to her brother's room, apparently wanting to complete the second order first.

Smiling after her for a bit, Kylie went back to her conversation. "Alright, I'm back.," she explained.

"Yeah, I noticed.," the dark furred hedgehog grumbled. "Is there something I should do, to help him?," he asked.

"Just what you usually do, when he's sick – minus calling me all five minutes for updates.," she added, annoyed. "It was all fifteen minutes."

"And we'll extend them to not at all, unless there's an emergency. Keep him hydrated, make sure he rests and give him some of the soup, that is suggested in the book I gave Sonic, the one to help replenish the energy. You have the necessary herbs and should be able to cook it without a problem. If things get nasty, you can use the herbal pills or come to me. Anything else?"

"...I don't think so.," Shadow muttered. He seemed irritated, that she told him what to do, although he had asked for it, literally. "Alright then. Mind giving me Tails for a sec?," Kylie asked.

"Er...sure. And thanks...I guess.," the agent mumbled and a few seconds later, she heard Tails' small voice. "Kylie?"

"Hey, Tails, how are you holding up?," the woman asked and waved to her son in a silent greeting, when he came stumbling into the kitchen, looking, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep. She looked probably the same.

He grabbed the other mug and took a sip, using the bitterness to get awake, before digging through the refrigerator for the milk, that he usually drank his coffee with.

"...I'm good, I guess. Just a bit worried. You know, about Sonic, getting worse.," the fox explained and she was sure, that he was playing with his tails right now.

"It's alright, it's just a bit of fever. I already told Shadow, what to do, so he'll be fine.," Kylie soothed.

"...Can I call you still...if I have questions?," the fox asked shyly. He had probably heard, how Shadow got chewed out by Alex yesterday. "Of course. At least I can trust _you_ with knowing, what _decent time_ means." Tails giggled a bit.

"Tails, be honest, have you slept at all last night?," Kylie asked. He sounded a bit like when she had saved him and his friends from the fake Uke Institute, when he had been fairly exhausted. It wasn't as bad as it had been back then, but he had definitely a need for a little sleep.

"...I guess not, no. Shadow and I were up all night, until Sonic fell asleep, but then, he got this fever..."

"In other words, someone needs a nap." "But-!" "Tails, you won't help Sonic, when you get sick, or collapse from exhaustion. Shadow is there and will take care of Sonic. You just relax and take it easy for a bit, okay?," Kylie replied with her motherly scolding tone.

The fox sighed in defeat. "Yeah, okay. Bye, Kylie. And thank you, really." "No problem. Bye, and sleep well." With that she hung up and took a big gulp of warm coffee.

"So, you're raising other children now, too?," Alex asked, while stirring his milk into his coffee, having apparently listened to everything. He didn't sound upset, or annoyed, just... knowingly amused.

"His big brother is down for the count, he needs someone to guide him a bit. Shadow isn't really big brother-material.," Kylie shrugged.

"Right.," the teen growled, picking with his spoon in the coffee now, as if trying to stab it. "I know you don't like him, but Sonic is his boyfriend, you won't be able to have one without the other.," Kylie reminded gently.

"Yeah, I know. Don't have to like it, though. This arrogant, little... Should build a rocket in the Garage to shoot him to the moon..." He swallowed every other insult down and Kylie let him. She knew, that he didn't mean Shadow, not at all.

"What are you even working on in the Garage?," Kylie asked, while continuing to set the table up. "You seem to spend most of your time there."

"Oh...er..." Nervously, Alex stirred his by now empty mug, the spoon clinking wildly against the edges. "I...er... Gotta go!" And he was out of the kitchen in an instant, leaving his coffee mug on the counter.

Kylie smiled fondly after him. Since over a year now, Alex was always fidgety, when it came to the Garage-topic. He probably liked it so much, that he just didn't know, how to put it in words without making a fool out of himself...or he was in love and trying to impress his crush with an invention.

She chuckled at her own thought process. Okay, that last one had been simply wishful thinking. So far, Alex had shown no romantic interest in anybody. It didn't bother her, not in the slightest, he was still young, after all. Since _she_ had been the one to become pregnant with eighteen, her children had her personal blessing to wait for love as long as they wanted.

"Mommy!" The twin shout reminded her, that she needed to hurry with preparing breakfast, if she didn't want to have two very moody girls at her hands.

* * *

_It was dark around him, nothing could be made out. He wasn't even sure, if his eyes were open, but opening them brought no difference. _

"_Hello?," he called, hearing his voice echo, as if he was in a huge, windowless room. Figuring, that he would find something – and if it was a wall – when he started walking, he did so, but he had taken just one step, when the ground disappeared underneath him and he fell – to land in the last thing he wanted to land in._

_Water. _

_He sank like a stone, pretty much kissing his life goodbye already, when he noticed something bright behind his tightly closed eyelids and he opened his eyes to find himself out of the water and hovering above a planet. Well, not any planet – Mobius. And his eyes widened upon seeing the whole thing on fire. While he watched, the complete planet was swallowed by hot flames!_

"_NO!," he called, but he couldn't move from the spot. His friends, his family, they were all there!_

"_What would you do?" Hearing a foreign voice behind him, he turned around quickly and saw a cloaked figure standing there, the cloak getting ruffled by a breeze. _

"_Tell me.," the person said calmly. "If it was real, what would you do?" "I..." He found himself backing off, scared for a reason he couldn't name. _

"_If you don't know, then don't bother coming back." And suddenly, the figure was so close to him, pushing against his shoulder, making him fall backwards, but he didn't touch the floor, he rather kept falling, falling..._

With a gasp, a certain blue furred hedgehog sat up straight in his bed. It took him a few rapid heartbeats to realize, that he was in his room.

Groaning, he let himself fall back in the pillows. "Great, I thought the nightmares were over. Well, at least it wasn't like the others this time.," he thought, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit at the last part.

Frowning, he looked up at his ceiling, thinking. What had this dream been about? Why hadn't he known, what to answer the stranger? It was so easy. If the world would burn, then he would save everyone he could. Why couldn't he say that?

Feeling cold suddenly, he quickly grabbed the thrown off blanket and buried himself in it. Why was he so cold now?

A small knock on the door let his ear twitch. "Sonic?," his mate called out quietly. Not in the mood to move, he just mumbled, "Yeah."

The door got opened and footfalls were audible, until Sonic could see his love, coming into view and carrying a tray. That got his attention – and that of his stomach, that decided to growl, when Shadow put the tray on the nightstand. Letting go of the object, the male turned to his beloved uke.

"Hey, how are you feeling?," he asked with a smile. Sonic fell silent for a second, listening to his body's signals.

"Tired, hungry, cold – and I think I'm getting a headache.," he listed up. "So, no nausea?," Shadow inquired.

Sonic grimaced. After getting sick more than once in the Uke Shelter yesterday and feeling nauseous for hours last night, until he had been finally able to sleep, this question was rather justified.

According to Kylie – who had probably gotten more calls than she could possibly want from his boyfriend last night – that nausea was normal, since most of the drug remains were centered in his digestive system.

It had taken them a while to get rid of the feeling and Sonic felt pretty guilty, that Shadow and Tails had had to stay with him all the time.

Shadow could take a few sleepless nights, no problem, but Tails needed his sleep. He had tried to convince his little brother, that he would be fine, but that wasn't so effective, when you hugged a plastic bin to yourself, because you felt so miserable and just about ready to turn your stomach inside out and kept soaking bed sheets with black liquid. The fox had stayed at his side, until sleep had claimed him.

"No, at least not until now. Where's Tails?," he asked. "Sleeping. Kylie played mother and sent him to bed. I just checked on him, he's still out like a light.," Shadow replied, while taking a seat on the mattress and placing a glove-less hand on his forehead. He had known, that Sonic would ask about the young boy and had therefore taken the minuscule detour on his way to this room. "I think, your temperature rose a bit. I'll take it in a minute. Do you want to eat first?," he stated and asked.

Sonic cuddled even deeper into the mattress. "Don't wanna move.," he whined. "What are you, a lazy hog?," Shadow asked, sounding amused. Well, that hadn't been a 'no' to food, though...

Gently, he grabbed his slightly startled mate under the armpits and pulled him in a sitting position, leaning him against the headboard of their bed and adjusting the blankets, putting an extra one around his shoulders, remembering his claim to be cold.

"Spoilsport.," Sonic muttered upon being moved, but he couldn't help the pleased purrs in his throat and the lazy wag of his tail, showing his appreciation. He just felt loved and cared for and although he liked caring for others the best, he also liked the attention he got right now.

He accepted the tray placed on his lap easily, but frowned, when he saw the plate with the amber fluid, in that swam small pieces of green. "No chilidogs?," he complained.

"Sonic, you heard Kylie. Your stomach isn't used to so greasy food anymore and needs time to adjust. For now, it's only soup. I studied your meal schedule and in three days, I can start adding cooked meat to the soups. Until then, absolutely no meat. Just try it, maybe you'll like it.," Shadow scolded lightly and then coaxed gently.

Sonic frowned at the fluid a bit longer, before, to his seme's immense relief, taking the spoon, scooping up a small amount of soup and tasting it. His eyes widened, when he tasted the delicious flavors and his brain, stomach and instincts for once didn't rebel against the warm dish after weeks of only fruit and vegetables in a raw form.

In mere seconds, the plate was empty and only Shadow was able to tell, that he hadn't thrown its contents out of the window, not at all. "More!," Sonic demanded, holding out the plate and Shadow was eager to comply.

* * *

Sonic ended up emptying the whole pot, that Shadow had cooked for the_ day_, before he was satisfied and declared, that he didn't need more for now.

The 'for now' worried Shadow a little – cooking the soup had taken quite a while, since he didn't really know, how to cook – but he was glad to see his mate full and happy for a change.

Taking his temperature, though, some worry returned, as the fever had indeed risen, if only by a little bit. He _really_ hated it, when Kylie was right.

The fever caused Sonic no discomfort, yet, he was just tired, sluggish and unwilling to move (which even extended to being carried to and out the bathroom by a flustered Shadow), but the seme couldn't help it, he wanted to call Kylie again, even if just to hear, that this was normal and no reason for worries.

Knowing, that he was too dependent on the woman, he restrained himself eventually, but kept a firm eye on his mate.

Sonic was currently lying in Shadow's arms, head resting on his chest fur, snuggling closer now and then, purring happily and tail wagging. He had taken a painkiller against his headache and fever and now just enjoyed some quality time. After being for weeks apart, he desperately needed the contact to his mate. It made him feel safe and complete, as if he belonged right here.

Shadow was also enjoying the closeness, to have Sonic in his arms, sitting here on their bed – which he would never take for granted again after those last few weeks – and he honestly didn't want to move, never wanted his beloved mate to leave his side. He knew, that it was impossible, they had their work to do – and he should probably start with lunch; knowing Sonic, he would demand more food soon – so he would just enjoy this, while it lasted.

A knock coming from the window let him look up to see a falcon with pristine white feathers fluttering in front of it, knocking softly again with its beak.

Frowning, Shadow entangled himself from his boyfriend and slowly went closer to the window, being extra careful, since his mate was in no condition to protect himself in an emergency. Opening the window, he allowed the bird to land on the windowsill. The animal looked at him for a minute, tilting its head, before turning a bit to the side and lifting its wing, revealing a piece of paper tied to its leg.

"The carrier pigeons seem to get bigger these days.," Sonic snickered, having seen the paper as well from the bed. Carefully, Shadow untied the piece of paper and, seeing Sonic's name written on it, gave it to him. Curiously, Sonic unfolded it and read its scribbled, rather dryly formulated content.

As promised, I let you know, how Pinky is doing. She has hammered and cried her frustration out and is now busy with burning everything with your face on it...or with a blue or green color. Just thought I'd let you know, that we'll make a little trip starting tomorrow to find her a new purpose in life. Shouldn't take too long, Pinky isn't THAT hopeless.

"It's from Scythe, Amy is fine.," he explained towards Shadow, who closed the window after the departed falcon. "Hooray.," Shadow grumbled sarcastically. Sonic just shook his head. He got, why Shadow didn't like Amy, so he didn't bother with scolding him. He was rather sure, that Shadow wouldn't hurt her, should she ever want to contemplate coming closer to him again.

Sonic's ear twitched suddenly and he raised his head from the letter to look towards his door. "Tails?," he asked, although it didn't sound, as if he had called for him.

Shadow didn't need to strain his hearing to detect, what Sonic had been listening to. Barely audibly, a whimper sounded from the other side of the door. It amazed the dark agent, that Sonic had caught the sound first, since it was so soft. Even their breathing was louder. Did he expect the sound? Or was that part of him being an Alpha and caring for his colony, to that the fox belonged?

He saw Sonic try and leave the bed, but it was only thanks to the agent's speed and quick reflexes, that the hero's attempt of standing up didn't end with a crash to the floor.

Catching him, he noticed the tremble of his mate's body and the sweat soaking his fur suddenly. Seemed, as if the fever got worse, because he strained himself too much... with standing up.

"Sonic, you need to rest.," Shadow scolded gently, placed him back on the mattress and put the blanket over him.

"But-!," the hero wanted to argue, already moving to stand up, before he was interrupted. "I'll look after Tails for you, okay? Just stay here and take it easy." And with that, Shadow had left the room, leaving the door open.

Sighing, Sonic let himself fall into his pillow again. He knew, that this was most likely normal for his recovery, but not being able to be there for Tails for this long was really grating on his nerves and testing his mood and patience.

Noticing the telephone on Shadow's nightstand, he reached for it, putting the letter down next to it first, and went through the contacts, not surprised to find Kylie's number already saved there. He dialed it and was shortly after connected.

"Shadow, what did I tell you just _five_ hours before?," Kylie greeted in an exasperated tone. "Sorry, I don't know.," Sonic chuckled.

"Oh, hey Sonic.," Kylie replied, not missing a beat. Since she wasn't embarrassed at all for confusing them, she had either known, that he would call, or... "...Are you busy?," the hero inquired.

"You have no idea.," the woman sighed. "Only in a place like this one can you have such problems. So, how are you? Still a fever?," she changed the topic after the small rant.

"...Shadow told you, didn't he?," Sonic grumbled, not having to think about her source for long.

"Of course, he was worried. Probably still is. Now, an answer?" "Yeah, still a fever. It even got a bit higher. Can't stand up."

"Then you shouldn't. Why don't you take a nap? It'll speed your recovery up." Sonic sighed. She was right, but...

"I'd like to hear about Scourge and Fleetway first.," he explained his motive for calling in the first place. Kylie snickered. "I wondered already, when this would come."

The sound of her door on her side being slammed open interrupted her, as well as the shout of "Mama!", that he already knew from yesterday. "Oh, who are you talking to?," he heard Vanessa ask curiously, whispering loudly.

"Just Sonic.," Kylie replied honestly. A huge gasp followed her answer. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!," Vanessa immediately begged.

Kylie chuckled in a 'should have seen this coming'-way. "Sonic, would it be okay-?" "I don't mind, go ahead.," the hero grinned.

It felt like a lifetime, since he made a child (or children) happy. Due to his illness and his instincts, as well as the rumors about his 'stay' on the Island, he had avoided his fans just as much as his friends, if not more. It was high time to get back to normal...well, as normal as his life was.

"Hi, Sonic.," Vanessa greeted excitedly. "Hello, Vanessa.," the hero replied with a smile. He could imagine her cutely excited face right now. "Oh, is everything okay? You sound a bit off! More so than yesterday.," Vanessa added thoughtfully.

"Vanessa.," Kylie reprimanded lightly, while Sonic didn't know, what to say. "Sorry. That was impolite, wasn't it?," the girl questioned sheepishly.

"It's...it's okay.," Sonic quickly reassured. He was actually impressed. The girl was very observant for someone her age. His voice barely sounded different to normal and only his closest friends would notice the tiredness he tried to hide. Even if Vanessa was his biggest fan, she should normally not be able to catch the tone from speaking with him in person two times in two days.

This would explain, however, how she had been able to catch up so easily on the hatred Kylie's family faced for adopting Hope, despite the woman's efforts to hide it from her. Vanessa was obviously very mature already, just because of this ability to observe more than others. "I'm just a bit under the weather.," he quickly added. "So...heroes can get sick, too?," Vanessa asked, innocently surprised.

Sonic had to bite his tongue, so he wouldn't laugh out loud. The girl reminded him a lot of Tails right now. The young fox wasn't always as observant as Vanessa, but he was clever in many ways and taught Sonic as often something as the older him.

Despite his intelligence, however, there were still a few things, that Tails reacted to according to his physical age. One of those was romance. Whenever they watched a movie, in that appeared a kiss-scene (even action movies could contain those), Tails commented them with an "Eew!", or a "Gross!"

Even when he witnessed something like that in public, he just stuck out his tongue in disgust. At least he was polite enough not to disturb the couples by voicing his complaint overly loudly.

Sonic knew, that his own interactions with Shadow were no exception. He didn't understand, yet, just why they kissed on the mouth, why they fought about stuff he saw as trivial, or cuddled without a real reason (Tails sought out the physical comfort after a nightmare or after a very intense fight, or situation, like his recent sickness, but otherwise, he thought, that he was "too old" for cuddling already. Understandable, that it confused him, when two even older persons cuddled on their own free will).

He was respectful enough to not voice his complaints, but Sonic had overheard him lamenting in front of Cream sometimes, his only ally in this manner. Being younger than him, Cream was the only one he knew, who would be just as confused by the show of affections between two adults (or, well, older ones than them). They both agreed, that kissing each other on the lips was just gross and unnatural. It was actually adorable, because they would change their opinion one day, they just didn't know it, yet.

"Yes, heroes can get sick, too. It's thanks to my healthy diet, that I don't get sick that often.," he answered Vanessa's question, slipping easily enough in the role of the role model.

"I thought, that you just eat chilidogs!," Vanessa wondered. Sonic sweatdropped. So much for being a role model. He heard Kylie trying to stifle a snort in the background.

"I just do that to help the economy. Would be a shame, if nobody sold chilidogs anymore, you know? At home, I eat other stuff, too, like vegetables and fruit." It wasn't a lie, he just liked chilidogs best – and why not eating, what he liked the most every day? With Tails' physical development in his mind, he had changed his diet to get the important nutrients and vitamins in the fox's developing body, which had worked far easier, when the hero had joined the healthy meals.

Although Tails could tell by now himself – if necessary, even with a scanner he built – what his body needed, the balanced diet had stayed stuck with them and they followed it more or less often in their own four walls.

"...So, when Mama gives me broccoli, it's not because I did something bad?," Vanessa asked slowly.

"No, not at all!," Sonic quickly reassured. "Your mother loves you and wants you happy and healthy. Vegetables are not as tasty as sweets or chilidogs, but they are important for you to become strong.," Sonic went on. Kylie would kill him, if he, as Vanessa's currently strongest role model, couldn't convince her daughter to eat healthy food.

"...Okay. I don't like vegetables that much, but if you say so... Oh, before I forget – will you come over today!?," she asked excitedly.

Sonic grimaced. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel so good, I'd rather rest.," he apologized. He hated disappointing people – especially children.

"Aw, but tomorrow, I have to be with my father and then I have school and homework...," Vanessa complained. "...Don't you like your father?," Sonic asked gently, trying not to pry too much.

His instincts were mildly confused, actually, that Kylie's former mate was still allowed close to her children.

Mobians weren't this merciful. When mates broke up, then their children stayed with the mother and accepted the next partner (the family would need protection, after all, so there usually _was_ a new partner) more or less easily as their father. The real father was never mentioned again and had no right to even look at his family. The instincts rarely granted a chance for making up, since it took usually a lot to break up in the first place.

"I do! But...he always...he always says mean things about...you." Her voice became softer and Sonic was sure, that, although he hadn't heard her yet, Hope was standing right next to her, listening. "He even...ripped the autograph I have from you in half.," she whispered sadly.

A clatter sounded in the background and he was sure, that Kylie had just dropped something. She heard this apparently for the first time. Poor Vanessa was really not envied right now, she suffered too much for a child her age...which was sadly another parallel between the girl and Tails, before he met Sonic, at least.

"Tell you what, how about I'll come by your home, or even your school someday and give you another, better autograph?," he suggested, earning a huge gasp from the girl, before the little one quickly told him her address, her school's address and her timetable, so fast, that Sonic was probably the only one listening, who could follow her flawlessly.

He would have liked to tell her an exact date and time for his visit, but his life just wasn't plan-able.

What he usually embraced and enjoyed, as it kept his life interesting and exciting, was a pain in the behind, when it came to dates and appointments.

Sometimes, he could almost swear, that Eggman (or another villain for that matter) knew, that he had something planned and chose this very day to cause so much havoc, that he wasn't even fashionably late anymore, once everything and everyone was safe.

It became therefore a habit of his to keep his agenda free of as many appointments as possible and to just plan randomly, so he wouldn't disappoint too many people. Besides, children loved surprises, didn't they?

"Can we play a bit, when you come?," Vanessa asked, after having finished with describing when and where they could meet. She sounded careful, as if one wrong word of her would make Sonic take his own offer back.

"Sure, I'm certain, that there will be time for a game or two.," he smiled. "Yay, thanks, you're the best!," Vanessa cheered and he heard, how the phone was given back and then, how two madly giggling girls quickly left the office, slamming the door shut behind them.

"I'm not entirely sure, what you told her, but I didn't see her this excited since Christmas.," Kylie chuckled. "Just promising her a new autograph and a day of fun.," Sonic grinned.

"I thought as much, there isn't a lot, that can make her this happy. Thanks, I owe you one.," she smiled.

"Think nothing of it.," the hedgehog shrugged. "Say, is it normal for humans, that the father still has contact with his young?," he changed the topic.

"It's 'children', and yes. Unless the child is fifteen years or older and declares clearly, that he/she doesn't want the contact, the parent – it doesn't have to be the father, you know? – doesn't want to have anything to do with their offspring, or the parent is a threat to the child's well-being, there is no reason to deny the parent this right. While Alex despises his father and is old enough to decide, where he wants to stay, my ex always wanted to have Vanessa at least sometimes over. Hearing this now, however, I'll see, if I can get this contact to stop. Van doesn't seem too fond of it anyway.," Kylie growled the last part and Sonic almost felt sorry for her ex-mate. Almost.

He looked up, when he noticed movement in the door and had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't start to laugh.

He could see the tip of his brother's tail peeking into the room from the doorway. It reminded him of the beginning of their brotherhood, when Tails didn't know, how to act around him. He had always made his presence known by hiding next to the door frame and peaking all few seconds in the room, sometimes just with one of his tails, until Sonic had acknowledged him loudly and asked him to come in.

He had lost the habit soon enough and become braver, but the recent events – and their similarity to the Island-incident – let the insecurity and old habit surface again. As if Sonic being an Alpha and an uke would make him someone else. Well, time to rebuild the lost trust.

Sitting up, he tried to bring himself in a relaxed looking position, before calling his brother's name, signaling Kylie on the line this way, that he would interrupt their talk for a while. Placing the telephone to the side, he watched Tails coming in, his posture speaking of his insecurity. "Hey, buddy.," he greeted. The nickname alone put the fox a bit at ease. "Nightmare?," Sonic inquired gently.

"Yeah.," Tails nodded, sitting himself on the edge of the bed, like he always did, when he was younger. "And I guess, that Shad didn't help with that.," Sonic continued. Tails bit his lip, his tails swaying a bit and his eyes turning to the mattress he sat on.

It reminded Sonic again of their beginning, when Tails had been reluctant to speak his opinion, in fear, that Sonic would punish him or kick him out, if he said the wrong thing. Until now, Sonic wasn't sure, which one of the two possibilities would have been worse for the fox.

He didn't need to think for long about why Tails was so nervous. Now, that he thought about it, they never had had this talk...

"Tails, you know, that me being together with Shad won't change anything between us, right?," he asked gently.

Tails didn't look up, which wasn't a good sign. "I...would like to believe that, but...when Kylie said, that you couldn't infect us, you...turned to Shadow.," the younger almost whispered the last part, becoming more and more silent with each word.

Sonic's eyes widened, when he realized, what Tails meant there. He could actually kick himself for not realizing that earlier. His little genius brother was...jealous.

It was understandable, actually. Tails had had for years the privilege of any only child – undivided attention of their caretaker. Even though Sonic was a busy hedgehog, saving the world at least once a week, meeting his fans and his friends on a nearly regular basis, Tails had had, at the end of the day, his brother for himself. They rarely had had guests overnight, so it had been just them mostly. To top it off, there had been no one in their unusual, assembled family, who had been as close to Sonic as the fox. Not even Cream, which was mostly, because Sonic had to force himself to engage in her girly games. Amy's overzealous hugs and everything had never counted in the first place, since it had been obvious – to anyone, but the girl herself –, that Sonic didn't like those.

And just after being separated for days, two years ago, when they had both gone through their own personal hells, they hadn't even been able return to their routine of being together as brothers.

Sonic had been in Healing slumber, Tails had been injured and sick and they had had guests. Tails had been a good host, helping, where he could – and had gotten rewarded with a permanent house guest, who hogged his older brother.

It wasn't, as if Sonic had turned everything down, that Tails had suggested since then. Quite the contrary, Shadow had been the one, who had had to toss his plans for the both of them in the trash, when Tails had had a suggestion. Not once had he turned away from his brother with a sentence like, "Sorry, but Shadow and I have other plans".

However, lately, he had started to tell Tails right during their breakfast, when he and his mate had planned something. As if he had wanted to suffocate any plan on Tails' mind immediately...

And as Tails had never wanted Shadow to join (and vice versa), the fox had been for sure discouraged to try and force himself in the plans of the two hedgehogs. Also, he was just too polite to be a brat and demand Sonic to stay home with him or to include him in a date of the two speedsters.

He wouldn't even say something, if he was against Shadow all together, now, that he thought about it, just suffer quietly. He may not understand, what that feeling between them was, but he got, that it was there and important to keep his brother happy. Had he ever asked, if it was okay for Tails, that Shadow stayed with them now?

No.

He had simply integrated the agent in their lives, never asking for Tails' opinion on that matter, just assumed, that they would get along.

He hadn't thought much of it. Being new on the _romantic relationship_-terrain, he had assumed, that it wasn't that different to getting a new friend. That Tails would get used to the newest addition of their family, just like he always did with all of their friends...who didn't move in after just stepping into their lives.

Scolding himself for being so stupid, the hero bent forward and grabbed his brother to pull him in a tight hug, startling the fox for a moment, before he calmed down, the scent of the older easily connected with safety and comfort.

"Not even one hundred Shadows can change the fact, that you are my little buddy. I'm sorry I never considered your feelings in this.," he mumbled in the younger one's fur.

Tails just sniffed, trying not to cry.

"If you want to, I can get Shads to move out.," Sonic continued. It wouldn't be a big deal, really. With their speed and Shadow's warping, it would be hardly a disruption of their habits, just a delay of five to ten minutes, tops.

He was still relieved, when Tails shook his head. "N-no. It's okay. I'm just glad, that you are alright.," Tails whispered. His stress was already beginning to fade, making it easier to think clearly. He couldn't ask that of Sonic, but that he had offered it, told him, that he was indeed still his big brother, thinking about everyone's (especially his) well-being and happiness before his own.

"How about we do something next weekend? Just the two of us?," Sonic suggested gently, figuring, that they needed some brotherly time together to fix their small problem completely.

He couldn't reverse time and change, who he turned to yesterday – and quite frankly, he wasn't sure, if he_ would_ change it: in this moment, he had needed the comfort only a seme could provide an uke (or a female) with... – so this would have to do.

Tails seemed ready to jump at the chance, but hesitated at the last second. "Will...Shadow be busy next weekend?," he asked, for sure assuming, that Sonic had chosen this weekend, because Shadow didn't have time then.

Sonic smirked. "Don't know, don't care. This is our time.," he answered, getting a happy giggle from his brother in return.

In seconds, the giggling turned to even breathing and Sonic didn't need to look down to know, that his little brother had fallen asleep. Seemed, as if Shadow didn't know, yet, how to make out, if Tails was just feigning sleep. Well, it was his job anyway.

Adjusting his hold, Sonic picked up the phone again. "Kylie?," he called her silently. "Brotherly bond restored?," Kylie asked gently, not even pretending, that she hadn't heard everything.

"We're getting there.," Sonic grinned, chuckling, when Tails snuggled closer to his heat source, like he used to do all the time, when he was younger and had crept in his bed.

"I'll let you join him in dreamland, but I already know, that you need at least a little summary on Scourge and my progress concerning Fleetway."

"An Alpha-thing?," the hedgehog asked. "You bet.," Kylie replied easily. "Now, Scourge is well. There were no problems throughout the night and his vitals have stabilized satisfyingly. I also got the results from his blood sample and judging by that, he should wake up in five to eight days."

"That long!?," Sonic exclaimed, causing Tails to growl unconsciously in annoyance. "Why so long? I thought, it was a matter of one to two nights!," Sonic whispered, while calmly stroking Tails' back with the hand of the arm, that held him, luring him back in a deep sleep.

"To get stable, which he is now. But some of the drugs Scourge took are highly addictive. It pretty much needs one small dose and you're hooked. I researched the Healing slumber for a while now and found out, that mobians, who entered this state because of or while being on drugs, stayed in it for up to four weeks longer, than those without drugs in their bloodstream. This way, the body tries to avoid the full impact of the withdrawals, that will follow the loss of the regular stream of drugs. As fast as Scourge's metabolism works, he shouldn't need more than a few days to overcome those withdrawals."

"I see. And Fleetway?," Sonic asked, feeling relieved and rather sleepy now. Kylie seemed to notice it, which was, why she kept her next answer short. "I found a few stories about an Alpha mating a seme of the Lightning Class. I'll try out his tricks and tell you later how it worked, okay?," she suggested.

"Sounds good.," the Alpha agreed tiredly. "Alright. Sleep well, you two. Bye." With that, the woman hung up.

Sonic did so, too, yawning, while putting the telephone back on his nightstand. "Sonic?," Shadow asked quietly and when the hero looked up, his mate stood there with a glass of water and two of his pills against nightmares.

Shadow didn't exactly know, _why_ he needed them, but he understood, _that _he needed those, so he would give them to him as often as necessary.

"Thanks." Willingly, Sonic took the objects and swallowed them. He already enjoyed the dreamless sleep over the strange dreams.

"Sonic...I...never wanted to interfere with you and your brother...," Shadow started to apologize.

Of course he had heard the conversation – and he had been mildly distressed to hear, that Sonic had contemplated to have him move out for his brother's sake. He was relieved to hear, that the fox didn't want him gone, but part of him – probably his instincts – wasn't even surprised to hear the proposition in the first place. It seemed quite obvious, that the boy meant a lot to his mate and he had been part of the colony first. He knew unconsciously, that Tails had an established relationship to his mate, so to say older rights, while he and Sonic struggled with building an even deeper one. And he also knew, that, even if they succeeded with that, the fox would always be special for the blue hedgehog, probably long after the genius' death.

"Don't blame yourself, this is my fault. I kept you separated, although we are a family. We should do something together soon, the three of us. It's high time you two get to meet properly.," Sonic replied tiredly, while making himself and his precious cargo comfortable.

"...That sounds good.," Shadow found himself agreeing, although interacting with people wasn't exactly something he enjoyed. But for Sonic, he would do a lot, even that. And maybe the fox wasn't all that bad, Sonic had a good feeling for people, after all. Hesitating a moment, the agent went on, "Sonic, I need to tell you something. You are-"

He got interrupted by soft snores and sighing, he looked at his beautiful, slumbering mate. "-deeply asleep.," he ended and rubbed his forehead in mild frustration. It wasn't Sonic he was frustrated with, but the situation. Just when could he tell Sonic about his immortality? And now, he also wanted to integrate the fox more often in their activities, which would reduce his chances to get him alone...

The communicator around his wrist, that he wore even during his days off out of a habit, beeped suddenly and he quickly silenced the device, so it wouldn't disturb the two sleepers. From the looks of it, though, little to nothing would rouse the duo anytime soon.

Looking at the device, he recognized Rouge's ID. Meaning, nothing important. She probably just wanted to tease him over playing 'Nurse Shadow' for Sonic, so this could be ignored.

* * *

Kylie steeled her nerves, as the last seconds before Fleetway's arrival ticked by. She knew, that he would be punctual – but that was the only thing she knew for sure.

Semes of the Lightning Class were unpredictable after all, she couldn't foresee, how Fleetway would react.

Although she felt reassured by her new knowledge – and the Mephiles-clone, that was currently hiding in her shadow, ready to take action, if necessary – she couldn't help the rapid beating in her chest. Being more or less alone with a seme like Fleetway was like being shoved in a cage with an untamed, hungry tiger.

She almost jumped out of her skin, when a knock sounded at her door. "Come in!," she called, wiping her moist palms against her jeans. The door opened slowly, as if the person entering was afraid to break it, before a yellow furred head poked in. "It's...3 pm.," Fleetway stated meekly.

His current submissive behavior was reassuring her like her knowledge and her secret bodyguard, although she didn't trust the former to last.

"Indeed, you are punctual. Enter and take a seat." She pointed to the chair in front of her desk.

Fleetway was quick to obey and looked anxiously at her. "Scourge...is better?," he asked hopefully and almost shyly, as if any wrong word could end their deal. For now, Kylie didn't intend on changing this line of thought.

"He is stable and should wake up in due time, approximately five to eight days.," the human female explained, waiting for a reaction.

Fleetway narrowed his eyes for a second, before cocking his head, looking rather lost. "Does this always take this long?," he asked carefully. Ironically enough, he was far calmer about the matter, than a certain blue furred Alpha.

Kylie explained to him, what she did to Sonic, watching, how the seme's face turned darker and darker the further she came.

By the end of her report, Fleetway was clenching his fists and silently growling. "I know, what stuff you are talking about. I'll kill Fi, when I get my hands on her!"

It sounded like a vow and Kylie didn't want to be in the fox female's fur right now. "Scourge never cared for drugs. Said, that they didn't work on him that well anyway. That he rather stayed fully awake on his terms. Only Fi could get him to do something so stupid. Where is this bitch now!?," he snarled, the red in his eyes glowing.

"In jail, for owning and consuming illegal drugs.," Kylie replied, having one of John's lawyers check on her, since Scythe left her in the hospital, in that the two got their stomachs pumped out.

The doctor had apparently called the police, while Scythe had been still there (as she had started to clean her scythe _only_ off blood in front of the dark haired woman, while telling her the whole story, Kylie couldn't blame anyone for wanting the police there) and the greenette had been clever enough to make herself and her charge scarce the minute Scourge was done, but she had left the female behind as she had been still treated back then.

Fleetway paled a little upon hearing that. "Does that mean, that Scourge has to go there, too?," he asked, worried. He would go crazy in there! Not to mention, that there wasn't a jail for ukes only, as far as he knew...

"From what I heard, Fiona takes the blame alone.," Kylie replied. "She claims, that she bribed Scourge to take those drugs. It'll heighten her sentence, but it'll keep Scourge out of trouble."

The seme sighed in relief. "Thank Chaos. Fi and Scourge are really good friends, I sometimes forget that. Gotta visit her later, maybe bust her out somehow," he smiled absentmindedly.

Kylie narrowed her eyes, for now ignoring his plans, when she remembered something Scourge told her on those rare occasions, when he had opened himself willingly. _He's like a tornado. His emotions go from left to right and then upwards and diagonal... At times, I can barely keep up. It's... scary, that I can't foresee his next step...not even his next words at times._

"Are you even aware of that?," she asked, almost to herself. "Aware of what?," he asked, confused.

"First you want to kill Fiona, then you want to thank and help her. Do you even notice, how much your moods swing?"

"What does that even mean?," Fleetway scoffed. For some reason, he felt insulted. "That is one of the things Scourge told me. Your extreme moods, that change in the blink of an eye, they scare him."

The seme blinked at her in surprise, seemingly processing, what she said, before his face twisted in an expression of pure rage. "How dare you say, that I scare my mate!?," he snarled and Kylie's eyelid twitched, which was the only reaction she showed on the outside.

His emotions weren't swinging, they were a damn wheel of fortune! It was impossible to say, how he would react, indeed. And yes, that scared her, too.

Since she had nothing to lose – besides her life, if the Mephiles-copy wouldn't interfere on time – she decided to follow the strategy the Alpha she had read about had used.

"Fleetway, enough of this.," she ordered with the strongest voice she could currently muster. It was surprisingly effective. Fleetway had tried to intimidate her and her lack of fear confused the instinct-controlled male.

The Alpha in her book had been able to tickle out the conscious-side of his mate by using a simple strategy... that could be seen as suicidal, nonetheless. Basically, she would try to lure out Conscious Fleetway by cutting off Instinct Fleetway right at the knees.

So far, Instinct Fleetway was still in control, but taken aback by her behavior. His beast-like mind was trying to process, how he should follow up her lack of fear. Since there were only the options _attack_ and_ flight_ left for him, she could imagine, what his next step would be.

And really, just as she finished the thought, the light seme threw himself at her, claws extended through his gloves, teeth bared, intent on ripping her throat out – just to be thrown back by an invisible force, that had him smash into the book shelf next to the door, causing several books to fall on his head.

Kylie felt her heart beat hard against her ribs and used the time Fleetway needed to recover to get over her own shock. She knew, that Mephiles had built a barrier around her earlier, she had just forgotten about it, until it had taken effect.

Quickly, she schooled her face in a neutral expression, just when Fleetway righted himself, rubbing his head. "Ow. What the fuck was that?," he groaned.

"An invisible barrier Mephiles put up before you came, just in case. And I expect you to clean up this mess.," she growled, pointing to the books.

"Yeah, yeah.," the hedgehog grumbled and turned to sit on his knees, picking up two books and looking at them. Even with his back turned towards her, Kylie could imagine the sweat he started to build.

"They are in an alphabetical order, if that helps.," the woman explained. "...Right..." Strangely, that didn't help Fleetway in the slightest. If anything, it made him even more anxious, actually had him trembling, while he tried to concentrate.

Kylie frowned. Could it be...? "Fleetway...can't you...read?," she asked carefully. It wouldn't surprise her _that_ much, Fleetway didn't act or look, as if he had ever been inside a school. And the streets were teaching people other stuff than that.

"I can read enough!," the male snapped over his shoulder, before turning back with a huff of indignation. Apparently, he had learned a few words by heart, just enough to not stumble by accident into a police station or a similar facility while searching for a place to hide or raid.

"Enough to read the titles?," she asked in a voice, that suggested, that she already knew the answer. Fleetway gritted his teeth audibly. "If you want, I can read the title for you and tell you, where they have to stand.," Kylie offered. "Er...reading the titles will do. I'll figure this ABC-thingy out on my own.," Fleetway quickly replied, wanting to save the last bit of his dignity.

"Alright, as you wish.," Kylie agreed, grinning inwardly in triumph. That went better, than she had expected – she had found a way to keep Conscious Fleetway out for a while.

Instinct Fleetway didn't know the alphabet, maybe not even, how to pick up a simple book. He was forced to leave that to his conscious-side, just as she had hoped.

The Alpha in her book had used logic puzzles, that had kept his mate's mind occupied. To be honest, until Fleetway had revealed his little flaw, she had had no idea, if she could actually get Conscious Fleetway out. She just didn't know him well enough. Now, however, she could imagine, that challenging him would work in the future. He was apparently willing to try this task and not keen on giving up.

Not wanting to let him wait and get impatient, she read out the titles of the two books he held out to her and watched him struggling to figure out, which letter came first and where they belonged between the books, who had stayed in the shelf. "Why does the thought of you scaring Scourge enrage you that much?," she asked after a minute.

Fleetway stopped his movements for a long second, before he resumed them, putting the books in the shelf as if to see, if it looked correctly. "...Because we've been there already, I guess.," he answered, taking two new books and showing them to Kylie. Reading out the titles for him, Kylie asked, "What do you mean with that?"

Fleetway sighed, while working quietly. "When Scourge joined the gang, he was eight. I was ten and already pretty high in the hierarchy."

Kylie's brows rose. Not only, because Fleetway was opening up so fast, but also, because there were only two years between the males. The seme had always seemed much older (and at times even much younger) than Scourge to her...

"Our former leader was interested in Scourge, especially, when he saw his speed – and that had been just a tiny part of his real potential back then. He started to give him more and more presents, the better bits of the food, real shoes, that he let his men steal for him. He even got the most comfortable bed in each of our hideouts. Even the leather jacket he wears until today. Sometimes, I really want to rip the thing apart.," he grumbled the last part.

Kylie narrowed her eyes, grabbed a note and a pen, scribbled something on it, crumbled the paper and threw it discreetly over her shoulder, knowing, that Mephiles' doppelganger would catch and read it.

"Let me guess, you got all those things before?," she asked. Fleetway snorted. "Yeah." "So you were jealous?"

Fleetway stopped for a minute, before he resumed his work. "That's not all. I was with the gang since I was six, when I murdered for the first time."

A gasp behind him let him turn around and he felt actually a bit satisfied to see the pale face of the woman and her wide eyes.

"What, surprised I killed already?," he smirked. Slowly, Kylie shook her head, fighting for composure. "Rather...that you were so young, when it happened.," she managed to get out.

Fleetway frowned, the smirk falling off his lips. "Ah, that.," he muttered and turned his back to her again. "I'm not proud of it, or anything. And I didn't want to kill...at first. I was thrown in the streets as a baby, you know? An old geezer living in this particular alley found me in a dumpster. He could've sold me for money on the black market, but he didn't. Although his life was tough and he had barely enough for himself, the crazy guy decided to take me in and raise me."

Kylie smiled at the fondness in his voice. "It must have been harder than it looked like, but he never complained. Not once. Only said, that we street rats had to stick together. Was kinda ironic, since he was a rat mobian and all. And then, when I was six, those thugs came. Claimed they owned the alley with our home in it now and wanted us to pay for staying there. We had no money or something along those lines and Geezer told them that. The two bastards then suggested to give me to them for some 'quality time'."

Kylie shuddered at the mere thought. "I didn't know back then, what they meant, or how to read those perverted grins, but Geezer refused harshly and then they attacked. They had knives, I was paralyzed with... fear, I guess. The old man wasn't so bad, he must have been a great fighter once. He even managed to disarm one of them, but the other got him by surprise, in the neck. He bled out, but they didn't stop kicking him even then, making him suffer while dying already. I noticed the knife Geezer had taken from one of them next to me. I remember picking it up, then nothing. The next thing I know, I'm standing in front of the mauled bodies of those thugs, splattered with blood and bloody knife in hand. Geezer had died by then, too. I bawled out my eyes for hours, until the leader of our gang found me, while looking for his men he had sent in this district. The ones I killed."

"HE sent them!?," Kylie gasped in bewilderment. Fleetway chuckled. "Hearing that, I almost committed my third murder of the day, but he could explain himself. He had really taken over our district a few days before, but not sent his men to collect in money, but to ask every homeless they found, if they needed something."

Understanding Kylie's silence as confusion, he explained, "The Boss was special in a way. He worked for everything he had and understood the pain of having nothing. That's why he shared with others and expected only their loyalty in return. Either by joining him in fights with rivaling gangs and in thieving acts, or by not snitching on him when asked. Trying to get money from those under his protection had been absolutely unacceptable for him. He managed to calm me down and took me in. Since I had no place to go, I followed him. He became my home, my second father."

He rubbed his eyes quickly. "And if you ever tell that to someone, I'll-" "I have no reason to. This story and everything else we speak about here will stay exactly in this room. That's a courtesy I show all of my friends.," Kylie interrupted the threat quickly. Fleetway stiffened at the last word, but didn't turn around.

Kylie smiled weakly. It was hard to believe, that she would ever call him a friend, but since yesterday, she had started to see him in another light. He wasn't just out for blood and trouble, he simply wore a hard, strong shell out of aggression and his instincts. Once you could look behind the facade, you found a relatively good and strongly caring guy, who just had a few flaws concerning behavior and manners...and general knowledge.

"So, if you weren't only jealous of Scourge, what else was there?," she changed the topic. "Huh?" Fleetway jolted upright, as if she had interrupted his train of thought. "Oh, right. Well, Boss was apparently fond of Scourge and the gang was everything I had left. I was always afraid of getting kicked out, or being sent in another district of his network because of him, to people I don't know. On top of that, Scourge just pissed me off back then.," he chuckled fondly. "He got more and more cocky the more Boss cared for him and started to tell how he 'killed countless people' already and stole 'so many treasures' in one day."

"Sounds like typical children's talk.," Kylie mumbled. Van and once Alex had also a vivid fantasy and could spend hours with picturing colorful stories, from slaying dragons and saving princesses to having a tea party with unicorns. Usually, they told those while talking with other children to show off, or to make her happy, when she was sick, or sad. Just like she would, if necessary, invent fairy tales for them. Scourge had just craved for attention, when he had been telling those lies.

Fleetway snorted. "Of course it was, I just didn't realize that. I was mad, that he spoke so lightly about death. After my own experience, I didn't see killing as something anyone should be showing off with. He went so much on my nerves, that I tried to be extra harsh towards him. Looking back, I regret it deeply, but I wanted him gone."

Kylie nodded thoughtfully. Scourge had once told her a few things from their past experience in the gang and also, how mean Fleetway had been at first towards him: tripping him, throwing knives, so that they 'accidentally' hit their mark very close to Scourge, spitting openly in his food, leaving 'mysterious' stains on his mattress and accusing him of things he didn't do.

Although all this had sounded like they were enemies worse than Sonic and Eggman (they had to live together, after all, and no room to cool down), Scourge had listed those things up with his eyes soft and his voice dripping with nothing but fondness. It was clear, that he had forgiven Fleetway long ago.

"What changed?," she asked. Fleetway's ear twitched. "One day, two years, after Scourge had joined, he was sent on a simple thieving mission. Just a few boxes from a storage outside town. Food and basic supplies, nothing more. Unfortunately, he ran into a guard. I don't know, what exactly Scourge did, but he somehow ended up killing the man... Well, at least he thought he did. Turned out later, that he just knocked him out, but in the given situation, he thought he did something worse. He brought the desired boxes still, but I noticed immediately, that he was different than usual. I followed him, when he climbed the ladder to the roof of our hideout. I...I'm not sure anymore, what I wanted to do up there, but I forgot it completely, when I saw him crying for the first time ever. He probably always went there, when his tough image became too heavy to hold up.," he added thoughtfully, before holding out two more books for Kylie to read out to him.

She did so and then asked, "What happened next?" "Well, for the first time, I saw him as someone like me, a fragile child wearing a tough mask. I joined him and let him tell me what happened, then I told him my story. Over time, I realized, that we weren't that different and became friends eventually."

"Did you fall in love with him then, too?," Kylie inquired. Fleetway faltered, having to catch the books again, when they almost slipped through his slack fingers.

"I don't think so, no. Scourge was always like my best friend and partner. ...Business partner, you know? I liked having him around, to drink and celebrate with him, but I never thought about him as anything but a dude. I didn't even know about this whole uke-thingy and I wasn't interested in something like sex anyway. The Boss made sure, that I knew about STDs, when I grew up and he was so...descriptive, that I kept a safe distance from the girls in the gang ever since."

Kylie sweatdropped. What did this guy tell Fleetway? "And to have sex with another guy never crossed my mind. Since the Geezer told me about his own girl, that died shortly before he landed on the streets, I never thought about other men, only about girls as potential partners – and well, I wasn't that interested, yet."

"Then, what changed?," Kylie asked. She was even more surprised, how easily she got Fleetway to talk about so personal topics.

As if to prove her last thought wrong, Fleetway stalled suddenly by letting her read out the last ten titles he needed to return into the shelf and busying himself awfully long with trying to find the right order.

Kylie watched him talking – or better: babbling – to himself for a minute, before she decided to break the stupid charade. "Fleetway." The seme went stiff, sitting straight at once, all movements frozen. "Why don't you answer my question?"

The male was silent for a bit, before he exhaled. "It's just...pretty personal, don't you think?," he mumbled, barely audible.

"More personal than talking about your childhood and how you became a member of the gang?," Kylie countered.

Even from her place, she could see the seme flush in embarrassment. He HAD been pretty open so far...

"...Fine. It all changed...on Paradise." Kylie couldn't help the slight flinch hearing the name of the damned island. Besides the Island, this was the name she wanted to hear the least ever again.

"When I stepped out of this container, all the semes and ukes were acting like they were crazy.," he started.

THAT was an understatement. Highly drugged, the semes and ukes had immediately searched out each other and start to mate. The ones Fleetway had met had either tried to kill him as a rival, or offered themselves to him for release. For him, who had stayed, as one of the few exceptions, sane, this had had to be a disturbing experience.

"I looked for a way off the island and away from those nutcases, when I could smell Scourge nearby. And...I was... scared.," he ended, almost thoughtfully, as if the thought only occurred him now.

"Scared?," Kylie repeated confused. Fleetway ran a hand through his quills in embarrassment. "...That he was in the same state. It was bad enough to see strangers like this, but seeing_ him_ like that..." He trailed off, pretty much horrified by the mere mental picture.

"But you looked after him.," Kylie stated. "Of course I did. And when I saw three of those assholes cornering him against a tree, I just saw red.," he growled.

Kylie remembered the bloodshed he caused that day, she had had to treat several ukes back then, who had landed in the crossfire. Poor things had been lucky to be still alive – if being on the Island still would have been actually something good.

"I thought I would lose him, when this asshole finally let us to them. He sounded so... broken.," the seme mumbled, remembering their time with the other two couples, in the cushioned cell. Scourge had seemed ready to end it all...

"You care about Scourge, don't you?," Kylie's voice cut through his thoughts. He scoffed, putting the last books in their – hopefully – right places. "Of course I do!," he growled.

"Then why aren't you considering him?" That let the male turn around to her. "What?," he asked, too baffled to be angry.

"Since you stepped into this room today, you threatened to kill his best friend and to destroy his jacket and you reacted with violence to my observation, that your mood swings unsettle him. Why? By the way, the first and third book, the seventh and eleventh book and the fourth and fifth book need to be switched for the order to be correct.," she mentioned.

As expected, Fleetway busied himself with the books again and tried to get them in the right order, while he answered, "Well, Fi is definitely a bad influence on him, this piece of cloth definitely means too much to him, since he can't go without it at all – and to assume, that he is ever scared is just a ridiculous thought. He's Scourge, he's scared of nothing!," he exclaimed the last part with conviction.

Kylie blinked at his back, before sighing and shaking her head. "You apparently don't even realize, that you sound like a small child saying this, do you? Although, wait – not even my eight year old daughter thinks, that being someone makes them fearless. Scourge can get scared, just like everyone else."

Fleetway growled, hunching a bit forwards, his claws extending and his back quills raising, his instinct-side was on the verge of taking over. "And about the other two things – have you ever tried to see them from Scourge's perspective?," Kylie quickly went on.

The growling ceased and the male turned again to look at her. She had his attention, alright. "'Fi' is a bad influence according to you – but maybe she is the only one, who can understand the pain he is in."

The seme's eyes widened, when he heard that. She was right. Knowing, what he knew now and learned yesterday, Fiona was indeed the only one, who could relate to Scourge's past suffering – she had been raped and abused by her parents and had fled her home and on the streets at a young age as well, since she had had nowhere else to go. She had found her own way of dealing with her past and had no problems with telling her story to anyone, who asked for it. Now, that he thought about it, Scourge had begun to hang out with Fi after hearing her story. Before, she had barely caught his eye...

"As for the jacket – have you ever considered, that he values it so much, because it is a gift of the one he sees as his only real father figure?," Kylie went on.

While she spoke, she placed the article of clothing in question on her desk. She had asked Mephiles' copy in her note earlier to retrieve it and give it to her. It had rested since a while now on her lap.

Fleetway's jaw dropped, while he stared at the fabric, one of the sleeves hanging from the edge of the desk. She was right again. How could he forget?

It had been the first cold day after Scourge had joined the gang and the Boss had ordered some of his men to get winter clothes for the newbies.

By some stroke of bad luck – that he had enjoyed back then – Scourge hadn't fitted into any article of clothing. It had been either too small or far too big to offer any protection against the cold.

It hadn't helped, that the too small clothes had restrained him so much, that his sharp back quills had risen on instinct, when he had tried to force himself in the fabric, which had resulted in shredded clothing.

Finally fed up with the waste of resources, the Boss had shrugged off his beloved leather jacket, that had been the first thing ever he had bought legally and had had therefore an emotional value for him, to give it to the young boy. It had been too big, but not enough to be unpractical. It had suited him in a way, actually, especially over time, when he grew in size and muscle to fill it out. He... actually loved seeing him in this jacket, not only because it suited him, but also, because it, too, reminded him of their deceased father. It felt, as if Scourge wore a piece of him and the smell put him always at ease, even when his instincts took over, or when he was worried about the future of their gang. Something he only realized during the time he had had to lead the gang alone...

Sneering at his own stupidity, he balled his fist and started to hit himself against the forehead. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!," he chanted in a more and more aggressive becoming tone, his hits getting harder and harder with each repetition of the word, quickly drawing blood, that ran in thin, warm rivulets down his face and splattering the carpet and walls.

He would have probably bashed his own skull in, if it hadn't been for Kylie, appearing suddenly in front of him and grabbing his arm, halting its movements. "Stop, are you insane!?," she yelled.

With a feeble effort, Fleetway shook her hand of and bowed his head, dripping blood and tears on the carpet. "I don't deserve him.," he muttered with a trembling voice. "All I do is causing him pain, I don't consider him at all! I-"

Kylie was fed up and hit the seme hard on the head. Due to his head quills, this was about as painful for her as it was for him, but she didn't care. "Stop with this nonsense already!," she growled at the male.

Fleetway didn't look up, he just shook his head. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I think for even a minute?," he asked himself desperately. "Because you let your instinct-side take over too much.," Kylie explained.

Fleetway raised his head and looked up at her with shiny, teary eyes. "Huh?," he asked, confused. The woman explained to him, what she had explained to Sonic the day before about instincts and conscious-sides.

The difference with those two was, that, while Sonic had shown signs of recognizing some parts of her explanation and had been able to use her information to his favor quickly afterwards, Fleetway stared at her, as if she was talking in a foreign language. "...So, I'm crazy?," he asked slowly.

Kylie sighed and facepalmed. "_No_, you aren't." She was tempted to answer with the opposite, but decided to be professional about this.

"Your instincts are there to protect you and they _should_ take only over, when your conscious-side is at its end.," she explained. "Your problem is, that you are apparently not aware of your two sides. They switch backwards and forwards and you don't notice it." "And...that's, what scares Scourge.," Fleetway concluded sadly, ready to return into his depressed state.

Kylie bit her lip in thought. "Currently, it does. However, you should see it like that: until now, you often acted on your instinct, probably most of your life."

Fleetway frowned. "I came to that conclusion, when you told me about this incident with your first father. You let your instincts take over, when you killed those two and since your...life... wasn't exactly a stable and safe one, it was better for you to depend on your instincts for as long as you grew up. Now, you are an adult and have a problem, because your instincts are still there and have a rather...aggressive way of getting your mate to love you...and dealing with other stuff."

"Then, what do you suggest?" "We need to find a way to make you aware of your two personalities. It should help you to push your instincts back and to actually be yourself."

Fleetway grimaced. "And what if Scourge doesn't like 'myself'?," he asked. Kylie smiled at him. "Fleetway, he already likes the bits of your personality, that surface behind your instincts, its just the rest, that frightens him."

The male stared at her, his jaw slack, considering her words. "...What can I do?," he asked, finally convinced. "I think, that meditation might be a good start.," Kylie thought out loud.

The seme cocked his head to the side. "What's that?," he questioned. "It means, that you sit still and try to listen into your own mind and soul.," the woman explained.

To her surprise, Fleetway started to laugh. "No, seriously, what is this 'medi-thing'?," he chuckled. "I already told you.," Kylie deadpanned.

The seme looked at her, his jaw dropped. "R-really!?," he gasped, sounding horrified. "Don't worry, I'll ask a friend of mine, Zen, to guide you in this. He'll help you to find your conscious-side." Kylie was sure, that Zen wouldn't be too thrilled, since the seme wasn't exactly a patient person and patience was kind of essential for something like that. She would owe him big time...

Fleetway pouted, but sighed. "Fiiiine.," he agreed. "Good. Come here tomorrow, at the same time, then we'll start with getting you to meditate.," she declared and stood up to return to her desk, taking a seat.

"Tomorrow already?," the male asked with dread in his voice. "Actually, you will start today. I want you to try and think about something nice and relaxing before you go to sleep."

Fleetway blinked. "That's it?," he asked. "Meditation isn't that hard. I think, that holding still will be your greatest challenge, not the part with imagining stuff."

"...Okay... Can I go now?," the hedgehog asked, pointing to the door. He seemed motivated to bring some distance between himself and the human. She had worn him out mentally, although he would never admit it. Still, in her own way, she gave him hope for a future with Scourge, and he was grateful for that.

"In a second. Here." Kylie returned to her desk, pulled something out of a drawer and threw it like a rectangular Frisbee over to him. Fleetway caught it easily enough, looking at her questioningly. "Remember? I promised you to give you those, if you behaved." The Alpha she had read about had also used rewards to keep the motivation up – he had used rather...physical methods, though, which she wouldn't do, no matter what.

Fleetway realized, what she meant, the letters that came probably from Prince and were meant for Scourge, and he quickly looked at the card. It was decorated with fancy symbols, that made the card most likely very expensive alone and the writing on it had been printed in a golden color, in a font, that he could barely read properly as the letters were swung to foreign forms...which didn't help his illiteracy.

Finally giving up on trying to make sense out of that, he turned to Kylie. "What did this asshole write?," he asked.

The woman smiled lightly. She was glad, that those short texts kept sticking to her memory, so she had no problem with repeating the last one's message flawlessly. First things first, however. She decided to try something risky again.

"Before I recite that card, you have to promise not to touch my children or Silver again, even if you mean well.," she ordered.

Fleetway raised a brow. "What do I have to do with your brats or this Silver-guy?," he asked. As predicted, he didn't remember a thing of yesterday's incident.

"Just promise it.," Kylie insisted, hoping, that both sides listened to her for once. "Fine. I still don't know, why you want this, but fine. Now, the card?," the seme grumbled, holding up the thing.

"Of course.," Kylie smiled and cleared her throat. "'My lovely Green Daisy, I can't wait for the day to see you again. I fall asleep each night thinking about your firm flesh under my hands. Why don't we meet up in the park, tomorrow, at 8 pm? I bet your fur will sparkle like an emerald in the setting sun.'," she ended the message, cutting off the 'Forever mine' at the end of the anonymous letter. She would like to keep her office the way it was.

"So he'll be tomorrow in the park?," Fleetway asked, while the card lit up in flames, his Chaos Energy flaring. There were several parks close to the Shelter, but he'd just search them all.

"No. On almost every card is a place and a time written, but all people I sent to go to this 'date' didn't find someone suspicious there – and believe me, they looked thoroughly. Scythe even went to the places as Scourge several times, but no one approached her, even after three full hours of sitting on a bench and pretending to be distracted. These places and times either serve to put Scourge under more stress by pretending to be in the city, or Prince is currently satisfied with pictures made by someone hidden nearby the designated locations.," Kylie explained, angry herself. It was frustrating not to know, what this maniac planned. ...If he was this one, even.

"Thank you for that. See you tomorrow.," the seme growled stiffly and left the office, leaving a small pile of ash on the carpet.

Kylie sighed and turned to the silently appeared person next to her, who healed her hand in this very moment. "Please tell me, that you have something to clean this mess up.," she sighed, while dialing Mighty's number – which was the only way of reaching Scythe, who didn't like technology and refused to have any kind of device with her, unless she was on a mission.

She would need her help, Fleetway would for sure appear tomorrow in any park he could find and she needed someone to keep the innocents safe. ...Maybe having Blush and her sisters roped into this wouldn't be so bad, either.

Looking up, she found her office clean from any traces of ash, blood and tears. Not bothering with thanking the creature – Mephiles had told her, that it would leave after Fleetway – she waited for a connection to the armadillo.

* * *

Fleetway marched down the hallway, feeling, as if he was boiling inside. How dare this asshole writing to his mate like that!? No matter, what Kylie said, he would be tomorrow in that stupid park! ...Whichever park was meant. Chaos, if he had to, he would search every park on Mobius!

Reaching the foyer, he approached Mali and slammed his hand on her desk, scaring the poor woman. He wasn't even aware of the fact, that he was hovering over the ground, bringing himself easily on the human's eye level. "I need to learn how to read – and pronto!," he growled at her.

Despite being grateful for everything Kylie had done for him, he would strangle her, if she would ever quote another of those cards.

"Um...okay?," Mali replied and went to sign him up in the next course for reading and writing for semes.

* * *

A few days later:

"Hey, Tails, check this out!," Sonic called towards his brother flying in his plane above him and ran into the outskirts of a forest, where he was still visible from above.

He jumped forwards, curling up in a ball with practiced ease and bouncing off the tree he had aimed at, then at the one opposite of it, a bit further ahead and so on, looking a bit like a pinball, leaving a blue streak in a zig-zag-pattern behind, that disappeared quickly.

After about fifteen trees, Sonic ended his performance with a back-flip and was back on track, grinning up at his brother. "Cool! Watch this!," Tails shouted and let the Tornado rotate like a drill, before righting the vehicle effortlessly.

"Great job, buddy!," Sonic cheered, showing a thumbs up. "My turn!" And he already looked for the next opportunity to show off his speed and acrobatics.

Shadow trailed behind the brothers, giving them space and privacy. He knew, that they weren't just showing off their tricks for fun or for making up for the lost time, when they hadn't have that much contact. No, this was mostly to reassure each other, that they were alright.

They had spent the last days almost completely at home, which was rare enough. The brothers had slept the whole first day away, both only waking up for lunch and dinner. Sonic had also awoken from time to time, when his medication had worn off and nightmares had disturbed his sleep again.

He had used one of these waking phases to check up on Kylie, who had been apparently successful with Fleetway, although she had kept the details a secret.

Otherwise, the brothers had barely left Sonic's bed and Shadow had stayed by their side, grateful, that he didn't need much sleep – he wouldn't have liked it to sleep on the couch, which he would have been forced to do otherwise.

On the second day, both brothers had been more active, especially Tails, who didn't have that much sleep to catch up on. Sonic had stayed up for longer periods, but still in bed. The slightly dropping fever had forced a few naps on him, too. Over the course of another few days, he had managed to recover more and more, though.

Today morning, his temperature had been broken and they were now on their way to the Uke Shelter as they had promised Kylie. Tails had insisted on coming with them, to hear firsthand, if everything was alright again with his older brother. He had hovered the whole time around Sonic and although he could see, that he would have loved it to see Snow and the Garage again earlier, he had denied himself this to be with Sonic, no matter what his older brother had told him.

All too soon for the brothers' liking, who hadn't have that much fun in quite a while, they had reached the Shelter and needed to round it to find a suitable place to land the Tornado.

A certain mobian butterfly helped them. Blush had no problem with keeping up with the plane and showed the young fox a plateau on a hill just outside the Shelter's property, from that he could take off again without a problem.

"You know, I have the feeling, that this was built for you.," Sonic heard Blush say, when he and Shadow arrived at the plane.

"Why?," the fox asked, while jumping off the plane. "Well, the hill had been built by some semes and nobody ever used this thing as landing spot, until now.," the girl shrugged.

She raised her wings and brought herself in the air. "Feel free to use it, whenever you like. I gotta go, bye!" Waving shortly, she took off.

"Er...thanks!," Tails called after her, but she didn't turn around. The fox turned to the hedgehogs and was worried to see Sonic...sweating and slightly out of breath. That was usually only the case, when he had to strain himself a lot – and the short run and the acrobatics shouldn't count...

"Sonic, are you okay?," he asked carefully. "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired.," Sonic shrugged. He smirked at his brother. "Mind if I hitch a ride back home?," he asked.

Tails beamed at him, always happy to fly with Sonic, pushing his worry back, until Kylie had a diagnosis. "Not at all!," he grinned and giggled, when the older threw an arm around his shoulders before they went to the shelter, Shadow trailing behind them once more.

The seme felt the ugly head of jealousy rising again and had trouble with fighting it. He KNEW, that the fox wasn't interested in his mate, but a part of him seemed still convinced of that. He just wondered, how he could change this. ...Maybe he needed this class Kylie had forced him into... It would be in five days, so he could plan this visit properly.

Stepping in the foyer, he focused back on the present and approached Mali's desk with the other two. She was sitting there and laughing loudly, doubled over, while Zen was sitting on her desk and talking animatedly. "-and then I told him to breathe easy. In and out. Shouldn't be so hard. But what did that idiot? He didn't breathe at _all_! When I told him that, he actually said 'Sorry, I forgot'. What kind of idiot _forgets_ to breathe!?," the uke ranted.

Mali just laughed more, unable to answer, until she had caught her breath again. "You poor thing. The stuff you have to go through.," she tried to fake sympathy, which didn't work too well due to the giggles still shaking her body.

"Ha, ha.," Zen replied dryly. "Well, I rather try to meditate for real, until my students come for their lesson later.," he shrugged and jumped off the desk. "See you later.," he grumbled and marched away, not even noticing the trio behind him.

Mali, however, did and smiled at them. "Good morning.," she greeted. "You're here for Dr. Ellen, am I right?"

"Yeah. Is she in her office right now?," Sonic replied. "I'm afraid, you missed her by about fifteen minutes. She went out, but should return shortly.," Mali replied.

"Do you know, where she went?," Tails asked. "No, she didn't clarify it, but judging by her look, there's something with her kids."

Seeing the horrified looks of the brothers, she quickly amended, "She would have been more upset and worried, if it would have been an emergency. Trust me, I know, how she looks, when something's really wrong with her kids and this wasn't one of those moments. Whatever called her away, it wasn't that bad. Anyway, take a seat, Dr. Ellen should pass by here.," she smiled and pointed to the seats.

"Alright, thanks.," Sonic thanked her and they went to the seats. Tails was overjoyed, that the blue hero plopped on the seat between the two other males, not keeping a distance any longer.

"Oh, before I forget! Shadow, your friend Rouge called here, she asked you to call her back.," Mali addressed the dark agent, who sighed.

The whole first day had she tried to reach him, so that he had turned his communicator off eventually. Her curiosity could really go on his nerves. He hadn't bothered with turning on his communicator ever since.

And now, she even bothered others? Had she known Sonic's number, she would have called him most likely. ...He actually wondered, why she hadn't, yet. It wasn't, as if she had problems with gathering information.

"Forget it, just delete the call. She's just curious.," he eventually shook his head. "Alright...all 450 ones of them?," Mali asked.

All three males looked at her in confusion. "What?," Shadow asked. "Your friend asked for you 454 times in total since the day you were here first.," Mali replied. Okay, that was a little excessive, even for the white bat...

"Man, do you even have any free time?," Sonic asked with wide eyes, stunned by the number for a different reason.

Mali giggled. "Sure, lots of it. We work in shifts, it's just coincidence, that you meet me again.," she grinned.

In that moment, Shadow stood up. "Excuse me for a second, I'll just call her.," he mumbled and left the foyer quickly.

He retreated in a secluded corner in front of the building and switched the device around his wrist on.

Almost immediately, Rouge's enraged face appeared on the screen. "FINALLY! DO YOU HAVE **ANY** IDEA HOW OFTEN I TRIED TO REACH YOU THESE DAYS!?," she screamed, that it was a miracle, that he didn't become deaf.

Shadow looked at her form in the small screen, trembling with badly suppressed rage and stress. She looked tired, as if she hadn't slept in days, her fur disheveled, her make-up messy. He had never seen her in such a state.

Usually, Rouge watched her appearance, especially, how it reflected on her emotions. Something terrible must have happened for her to present herself like that...

"What happened?," he wondered silently. "I'm okay.," the bat huffed, still mad. "Where are you now?," she asked, unusually serious.

"At the Uke Shelter, Sonic needs a check-up. Listen, I can come over immediately, I would just need to inform So-"

"No, no need!," Rouge quickly interrupted. Too quickly for his taste. "Just stay with Sonic and bring him home, then you can come to GUN HQ.," Rouge practically ordered.

Shadow frowned. Did she just say this, because she knew, that he couldn't concentrate, as long as Sonic was here, or...? "Rouge? ...Is...Sonic in danger?," he asked, surprisingly calm.

And he stayed calm...when the bat didn't answer. "J-just do as I said. See you later.," she said and ended the connection. Leaving Shadow to find a way to deal with his newly building anxiety.

* * *

Shadow wasn't gone for long, when the doors opened again. Instead of the dark hedgehog, however, there entered an elderly human man.

He walked hunched over, had short, white hair and dark, dull eyes, that were only halfway open, with large bags under them. The corners of his mouth were drawn down and it didn't look, as if he could smile to save his life. He wore an old pair of black pants and a gray shirt, that looked too big for his haggard frame. All in all, he didn't seem to belong here.

Nonetheless, he made his way over to Mali, who looked up and smiled a bit. "Good morning, Ed. Late as usual, huh?," she asked, her smile turning to a smirk.

The man, Ed, just grunted, while he came to a stop. "You haven't seen my bag by any chance?," he asked with a gruff voice, that suggested, that he didn't talk much.

"No, I haven't...but I think, he did.," Mali added and pointed to the door, to that all three males turned, to see a hedgehog with dark brown fur coming in, dragging a long black piece of fabric behind him, that looked, as if it had been destroyed by wild animals. A strap in the same color being dragged after the rest of the fabric, just barely connected to the rest of it, showed, that it had been a backpack once. It left a wet trail behind it for some reason.

Marching over to the human man, the hedgehog held out the piece of fabric to him. "I... er...found your bag. Swam in the lake of the chaos. They weren't happy.," he added thoughtfully.

"Hm..." Ed took the wet thing and held it up, letting it drip freely. He searched through the cloth and pulled a handful of what looked like wet paper out of an intact pocket.

Looking it over, he smirked almost evilly. "Well well, looks like the semes thought they could get rid of my tests. There will be dire consequences for this.," he smirked coldly, almost sadistically.

The hedgehog trembled a little and swallowed and Sonic and Tails found their furs standing on end, their instincts warning them to stay on guard with this human. "W-what will you do to th-them?," the foreign hedgehog asked, sounding scared, his quills rising.

Ed looked down on him for a minute, before his lips formed a lazy grin. "I let the semes write a test yesterday. Since the results dissolved, I'm _forced_ to think about new questions and since they seem not too _fond_ about paper, they will have to answer the questions out loud. Is for sure quite embarrassing, if one of the answers is wrong and everyone hears it...," he mentioned with a shrug.

The three mobians relaxed upon that answer, feeling the truth in his words. Their instincts retreated, telling them, that the human was okay. He had a strange humor, but was otherwise harmless. The quills of both hedgehogs relaxed again, considering the danger passed.

The foreign hedgehog, for sure an uke, even smiled a bit. "My mate is in your class, he will most likely curse you to the high heavens today night.," he joked lightly.

Ed shrugged again. "I'm just trying to squeeze some knowledge in their tiny brains, what they think about it, is their decision alone.," he muttered.

Still smiling and even laughing a bit, the hedgehog nodded, waved and left the foyer the way he had come.

He was just gone, when Mali rounded on the older man. "What the hell, Ed!?," she hissed at him, while the man calmly looked over the remains of his backpack, almost, as if he contemplated, if he could repair it somehow to save the money for a new one.

"Would it be too much to ask to smile from time to time? Especially around ukes!? How can you scare the poor thing so much!?," Mali went on, still hissing. If she tried to exclude Sonic and Tails from the conversation, then she failed, epicly.

"What's the use?," Ed asked in a monotonous voice, while turning the shredded bag upside down, still examining its damage, not bothering with silencing his voice. "Excuse me!?," Mali raged, looking, as if she would jump up, if she would have been able to do so physically.

"What's the use in pretending everything is butterflies and rainbows in here – when out there are enough people, who would like to nail their skins against a wall?," Ed concreted his question and looked finally up to have his suddenly sharp eyes bore into in Mali's widened green ones.

"Don't get me wrong there, I agree with you, that frightening ukes on purpose isn't something anyone should do. Most of them have been through hell because of something they couldn't choose or control. Kindness is the least they deserve.

However, _false_ kindness isn't helping them, either. To slap a grin on the face, whenever they are close, to hide frustration, anger or sadness behind it, will never be helpful. Mobians in general feel emotions and intentions on a level we humans can't and see through those masks we fool our own kind with.

And now tell me: what is worse? When a human appears scary, but turns out to be just gruff in character and otherwise alright – or when a human pretends to be nice, just to ram a knife in their backs the second they turn it?" Mali swallowed thickly, her face ghostly pale.

Ed turned his glare away and started to roll the bag up to a ball. "Don't misunderstand my words, your cheerful attitude is the reason, why most of the ukes coming here for the first time don't turn around on the threshold. But don't expect all of us to act like that. The ukes aren't total scaredy cats, they can take a little insecurity or fear, as long as they learn, that it was or wasn't necessary. And I'm not saying that because of a world-known hero being outed as an uke. I know that, because I saw several ukes getting their annoyed semes after my classes – and they are bigger spitfires than my wife once was."

He smirked a little at the last part, while he finished bundling up the bag. "One more thing, you are also wearing a mask.," he told her, not looking at her.

Mali flinched and grew – if possible – even paler. "It's paper-thin at best, though, so don't worry. The mobians see through your smile, but appreciate it nonetheless. Never stop smiling, it lights up this whole dark world."

He had just ended, when a new figure made his entrance – Fleetway, who came storming out of a hallway. "There you are! Gee, what's taking you so long!? Come on, I want to get out of this lesson of yours, before the century ends, you know!?," he ranted, went to Ed, grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked the human down to lie pretty much on the ground, the fist holding his shirt still the only thing, that kept him somewhat upright. "Let's go.," Fleetway grumbled and dragged the human effortlessly after him, like the uke from earlier did with Ed's backpack. Ed didn't seem to mind the treatment.

Upon catching the three beings in the foyer staring at him, he grinned in this lazy way of his and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at the seme. "Like the guy. Actually wants to learn something.," he declared, before they were gone from sight.

Mali looked after them and then lowered her head. "A mask...," Sonic and Tails heard her whisper and saw her touch her own cheek in thought. This Ed seemed to have strung a chord. The brothers chose to pretend, that they didn't see and hear anything she did.

The front door opened again and Mali was quick to compose herself and smile at the person coming in. It wasn't as wide as before, but still friendly and warm, Sonic noticed.

He turned around and saw a familiar violet furred cat enter the foyer.

"Hi Blaze, long time no see!," Mali greeted the cat with a wide grin. "Hey, Blaze.," Sonic drew attention to himself and Tails, who waved at Silver's adoptive sister.

Seeing the two had the cat freeze for a second, before she bowed her head in a friendly greeting. "Hello.," she replied calmly, as usual a little reserved, and went over to Mali. "Silver's still in his classes until-"

"I know.," Blaze interrupted the woman quickly. "I'm...actually looking for Kylie." "So? Dr. Ellen isn't in the house, yet, but she should return shortly.," Mali explained. She seemed confused by the cat's motives, but didn't let it show too much on the outside.

"I see, thank you." With that, Blaze sat herself on the seat opposite the row Sonic and Tails sat, crossing her arms and legs, her tail twitching a bit. As she was apparently not in the mood for conversation, the brothers left her alone. Sonic couldn't help but notice, though, that Blaze seemed rather restless. Knowing about her fire powers and how they got worse with her negative feelings, he felt a bit worried.

Before Sonic could ask her about what made her so anxious, a big dark object crashed through the glass door, shattering it to pieces, that flew pretty much everywhere.

The object skidded over the floor and came to a stop in front of Mali's desk, who had ducked behind it with what seemed to be practiced ease.

"Mighty!," Sonic heard Tails gasp, who he had shielded with his body by instinct and turned around to see the male just standing up, casually brushing off the glass shards.

Blaze had jumped up like Sonic and her hands were on fire, but recognizing one of the people saving her two years ago from the Uke Institute, she calmed down again, extinguishing the flames with a small shake of her hands.

"Mighty, not again! I'm getting tired of your way of entering this building!," Mali complained, after she had straightened from her ducked position. "Is everything okay?," Tails asked, sounding worried and went closer to his friend.

Mighty turned to the young fox and grinned, his eyes practically sparkling. "Sure thing, everything's just fine. It takes more to scratch my scales," he replied happily, as if being thrown through glass doors was his favorite hobby.

Sonic couldn't help the grin, that appeared on his own face seeing this expression. Tails joined it, after the shock had worn off.

They both knew, that there was only one thing, that could make Mighty this happy. He had found another someone, who matched his strength. He had shown the same face, when he had sparred against Sonic and Knuckles, after they had become friends.

Mighty could detect the strength of his opponent after one hit in his palm. According to him, those, who managed to make his bones hurt with one hit – or in Sonic's case: a kick – alone, were a match to him.

Well, there weren't much people, who succeeded in that task. Most just hurt themselves with a punch or kick against the rock-hard hand of the armadillo.

Sonic heard glass crunch and wasn't really surprised to see his boyfriend coming in and making his way over, when he turned towards the noise.

He knew, that Shadow and Mighty would be great sparring-partners, but they didn't have the chance to battle until now. No wonder, that Mighty jumped at the chance, when he met him alone.

Shadow's eyes slid over his mate, visibly relieved, that he was unharmed. He had apparently forgotten for a second, just where he threw the armadillo into.

He went to Mighty, who still grinned, as if it was his birthday. "I apologize, that was too much.," the agent started, earning a gleeful laugh out of the other mobian.

"Are you kidding me? I hadn't have that much fun in ages! Now, are you feeling better?," Mighty inquired, still grinning.

Shadow raised a brow in confusion, when he felt, that his anxiety and anger towards Rouge for not telling him whatever he needed to know, had lowered quite a bit. "Unexpectedly, yes.," he replied.

Mighty chuckled at his expression. "It's a seme-thing. When under pressure, we need to relieve it sometimes. And the best and fastest way is a little sparring. Many semes seek me out, because they don't want to risk hurting their mates, even if they are fighters themselves, or semes, too. I'm sure, that Sonic wouldn't mind a sparring now and then, but if you feel, as if you can't control yourself, search for me, I'm usually here."

"Thank you for the offer.," Shadow replied politely, finding it surprisingly easy to not feel jealousy, although he said Sonic's name and was apparently close to him. Did their short fight already help with erasing his feeling of Mighty as possible rival?

"No problem, I'm always up for a good fight.," Mighty shrugged. "NOT in the foyer!," Mali growled behind the strong mobian.

As if on cue, the glass shards flew back to rebuild the door, courtesy of Vremy, who waved shortly at them and then left without a word, as Sonic saw through the newly repaired glass door.

"See? All taken care of.," Mighty grinned at the still slightly unnerved Mali. "Doesn't change the fact, that I spend far too much time with ducking to try and avoid broken glass! The only one worse than you is DJ.," the woman grumbled with a sigh at the end.

Judging by her defeated face, the female cat broke something on a daily basis. From what Sonic heard Tails tell him after their first visit at the Shelter – and his own run-ins with her –, the girl was pretty accident-prone, so he wasn't too surprised to hear that.

A warm light flashing in the foyer saved the armadillo the answer and Shy appeared next to him.

Her appearance looked better than a few days ago, she was dressed in a clean blue t-shirt and a pair of black jeans and her hair was combed and braided nicely.

She spotted Mighty and raised a brow. "Interesting. You seem to have a talent for being almost always, where you need to be.," she observed.

"I need to be here? Why?," Mighty questioned. "Beats me. Kylie called and wanted the two of us to wait for her here. Said, that she is on her way and should arrive shortly. By the way, here."

She threw him what looked like a rather antique, black mobile, that was bigger than average. "Ah, thanks. Didn't notice I forgot it.," Mighty grinned and caught the object.

Tails' eyes lit up. "You still have it?," he asked excitedly, while the armadillo held the mobile-like device to his wrist. A thick band, that had been hidden in it, shot out immediately upon detecting the skin contact to tie it to his wrist tightly, making sure, that it couldn't slip off.

It looked a little unhandy, but Mighty was used to it and had no problems with operating with it. That he actually forgot to wear it, just spoke for the fact, that it didn't bother him at all.

"Of course I do. I'll never find a better way to communicate.," the fighter grinned, making Tails beam. The fox had built the device himself – after Mighty had destroyed three of their regular communicators while trying them out. By now, the armadillo was forbidden from ever going in the young genius' lab unless invited.

Tails had used lots of sturdy materials to build his communicator to match Mighty's strength and although the result didn't look too aesthetic, the device was handy enough for his needs. "I actually thought, that you broke it somehow.," Tails admitted. "As if I would ever do that!," Mighty laughed. "Not from the lack of trying.," Shy added, making the armadillo grumble and Tails, Sonic and Mali laugh.

Sonic's ear twitched, once he had calmed down, and he looked out the door again to see a small group move towards the doors. He immediately recognized them, especially the woman leading the procession.

Kylie was talking with someone at the phone and looked very angry. Whoever was on the other end of the line, Sonic would hate it to be in his shoes right now.

He frowned at the large piece of colorful cloth, like a long and broad scarf, that she had wrapped once around her neck, the rest falling down to her ribs, containing something, that she supported with her free hand, keeping it against her chest.

Seeing Mist walk beside her, switching from her left to her right all few seconds and never letting the bundle out of his eyes, let him guess, what the woman held there.

Kylie hung up just before she entered the foyer. Mighty and Shy turned immediately to her, when they heard her enter, and both paled upon seeing the woman's companions, walking left and right behind her.

After her came in a flying squirrel mobian with yellow fur and a human child carrying a white furred mouse mobian.

"Ray!" "Kari! Emma!" Both, mobian and human, ran to their younger siblings, worry evident on their features.

Ray sported a dark bruise on his cheek, cooling it with a cool-pack, and had some dirt on his disheveled clothes and ruffled fur, but seemed otherwise unharmed.

Kari looked worse to wear, she had several bruises and scrapes on her legs and arms. Her t-shirt was ripped at the front and showed several more bruises and cuts on her stomach. With worry, Sonic noticed, that some of the bruises he could make out, that weren't hidden by Emma, were visibly older than others...

Emma in her arms was completely unharmed from what Sonic could tell, but her orange dress was dirty with mud all over the front and she was crying her eyes out.

Behind them entered Alex, who looked the worst, bruised and bleeding all over, his clothes ripped in several places and parts of them missing. He looked overall, as if he had been run over by something big. It surprised Sonic, that he wasn't in a hospital, he definitely looked, like he needed one. He had a dark scowl on his face and looked, as if he would have liked a few spars with Mighty to cool down.

"What happened?," Mighty asked, while, with utmost gentleness, inspecting the bruise on Ray's cheek. Tails had joined him, worried for his friend. The younger bit his lip, but didn't answer.

Kari moved towards Shy and pretty much fell in her arms, sobbing in her chest. "Hey, what's happened to you?," Shy asked, much more gentle, than Sonic had ever seen her so far. "They wanted to kill us.," Kari choked out, crying harder, along with Emma.

"WHAT!?," Sonic, Mighty and Shy exclaimed. Their eyes went to Kylie, who looked mad at nobody in particular.

"Kylie?," Sonic questioned to get her to talk. The woman sighed in defeat, brushing a hand through her hair. "It's a twisted story. Apparently, Emma left her school for a reason not even she can explain. Kari and Ray saw it and followed her, worried for her safety. They passed Alex' school and he noticed them. Seeing, that something was wrong, he left his lesson and ran after them. It saved their lives.," she explained with a tremble in her voice. "Something was wrong?," Shy repeated with a raised brow.

Kylie turned to Alex, who averted his eyes, staring at the wall to his left with crossed arms. "I watched from my class room, how Emma crossed the street without looking into any direction. A large truck could just stop in front of her, before she could be run over – and she didn't even care. She walked like a zombie. I knew, that something was off, so I followed her and the other two. They went straight into an alley with a dead end, where Emma just collapsed. When Kari and Ray reached her, these thugs came out of nowhere, with metal poles. There were about ten of those. I don't know, why, but they wanted to kill Emma. The other two were just hurt, because they tried to protect her. It took me a while, but I managed to knock them all out, enough to get the three out of the alley.," Alex ended.

He didn't seem proud of himself, although he could be. Looking on his hands, Sonic saw the bruised and bleeding knuckles. That had to hurt.

"And you didn't think about interrogating them?," Shy asked icily. There seemed to be blood lust in her eyes. Sonic could see Kari gripping her shirt's back tightly, as if trying to hold her back.

Alex eyed her for a second, before turning away again. "Of course I tried that, but now comes the twist. Those guys didn't remember a thing. Neither me, the little ones nor how they even got the metal poles. Most didn't even know, where they were."

"Amnesia?," Tails suggested with a frown. "Amnesia, from that ten completely different people suffer simultaneously? I highly doubt it. I was careful, until I met Mom and she drove us here, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Whatever this was, it is over." He let the 'for now' fall, not wanting to jinx it.

"Alex, I can't thank you enough.," Mighty said in earnest. He had kept Ray safe, when he himself couldn't – that was enough for the armadillo to be eternally grateful to the teen. "It's no big deal, really. It was the right thing to do, end of story.," Alex shrugged.

A low growl let everyone look to Shy. She had her head bowed, casting a shadow over her eyes. Her braided hair moved in a wind she most likely conjured right now. "Where are these assholes now?," she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kari looked up and Sonic could see fear in her eyes. Did she fear her sister? Or what she would do?

"Shy, you heard, what Alex said, they don't remember a thing!," Mighty argued, bringing himself between Ray and Tails and the teen. He knew about her temper.

"Oh, I can for sure jog their memory.," Shy growled, the winds getting stronger, forcing everyone back.

Mist appeared in front of Kylie, for sure wishing to protect her, but it didn't seem to help her at all, the winds just slipped through his form, rippling it from time to time.

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "This isn't about information, though, is it?," he asked calmly, letting Instinct Sonic do the talking, while he stepped closer again, showing, that he wasn't afraid of her. "You just want revenge."

Shy turned around to him, still holding her sisters. "Even if I did, what does this have to do with you?," she snorted coldly.

Shadow behind her balled his fists. His instinct-side told him sternly to keep out of this, but he would still like to teach that brat some manners.

"In case you forgot, I'm a hero. It is my duty to protect the innocent – and you _and_ these men are those innocents from what I heard.," Sonic told her matter-of-factually.

Shy's eyes widened for a second and Kari and even Emma, who had finally stopped crying, turned around to the blue hedgehog, all three staring at him with expressions he couldn't place.

Eventually, Shy turned away and her wind stopped. "I agree with Mighty earlier. Thanks, Alex.," she mumbled and she and her sisters disappeared.

"...Okay...," Alex said slowly, before he turned to his mother. "I'll go and get checked out, so you can stop worrying." He actually rolled his eyes, as if worry for him was completely unnecessary, and went deeper in the building.

"Did these guys hurt you anywhere else?," Mighty asked Ray, too used to Shy's episodes to dwell on her behavior for long.

The squirrel grimaced. "My right shoulder...and maybe my sides and back. I was in charge of Emma, while Alex and Kari protected us. Not many managed to get past them.," he explained silently, for once not stuttering, but neither Tails, nor Sonic felt the need to point it out right now.

Mighty's eyes narrowed in anger, but his actions didn't lose their gentleness. "Come on, let's get you checked out. I'd rather be careful with your injuries.," he explained and started to lead the younger after Alex, thanking Kylie with a nod over his shoulder.

Ray stopped after a few steps and turned to Sonic and Tails. "N-nice seeing y-you, g-guys.," he stuttered with a weak smile. It seemed, as if the shock, that had suppressed the stutter for the time being, had worn off mostly. "Nice seeing you again, too. Get well soon!," Sonic waved reassuringly and the two left.

Kylie sighed behind them. "Mist, I get, that you are worried, but your flickering just gives me a headache.," she grumbled and Sonic turned around to see her kneeling on the ground so the ghost could easily look at her bundle's content.

In it was Hope, curled up and sleeping deeply. Not even the smell of Alex' blood lingering in the air had roused her, which usually would do so with a pup. On instinct, the scent of any kind of blood would wake her, since it was a reason to assume danger. So she wasn't asleep?

"See? She's okay, just tired. You know, that this is a side effect she has to endure.," the woman soothed. Mist was still flickering, out of pure anxiety, Sonic presumed, but it became less and less with each passing second.

"What's wrong with Hope?," Tails asked, having perked up upon hearing 'side effect'. Kylie flinched a little, having apparently not noticed so far, that her friends were there.

Sonic didn't blame her. From what he heard and saw, Kylie had just randomly met her beaten up son and the other three, most likely while getting Hope. Just imagining himself and Tails in her and Alex' places sent shivers down his spine. That had to be horrible.

"It's a side effect of the rings she wears.," she started to explain. "The rings she is wearing regulate her Chaos Energy-input, making sure, that she doesn't take in too much at once and doesn't trigger yet another growth spurt. When something happens, however, that challenges her, her body thinks she needs more energy and strength and tries to make her grow again. The rings block this off – and cause her to faint sometimes. She was supposed to learn a new letter today, I guess, that it was too difficult for her.," she ended sadly, gently massaging Hope's back, earning a relaxed sigh.

"Isn't there a way to program the rings, so that they accumulate to her needs?," Tails asked further.

"I honestly have no idea. John built them and never talked much about it. He's currently on a vacation and unreachable, so I can't even call him."

"Hm...are there any blueprints? Or maybe prototypes?," Tails insisted. "As far as I know, Hope wears the prototypes, but Nicole should be able to give you a copy of the blueprints. They are in the data pool in the Garage. Just ask her to upload them to something.," Kylie replied.

"Okay, thanks. I'll look into it, maybe I can find something to erase the side effect and stop Hope from fainting randomly.," Tails smiled.

At once, Mist was in front of the fox, startling him. The ghost touched his shoulder and Sonic watched his brother's fur stand straight. It had to feel strange to be touched by him.

"Er...no problem?," Tails tried and Mist seemed to notice his discomfort finally and disappeared. "He rarely seeks out physical contact, you know? He's really grateful.," Kylie smiled at him.

The fox blushed. "He doesn't even know, if I find anything.," he mumbled. "But he trusts you, like we do.," Sonic grinned, grabbed his brother and gave him a playful, gentle noogie, making him giggle.

The silent clearing of a throat let everyone turn to Blaze, who approached Kylie slowly. "Hello Blaze. You're a little early for Silver.," Kylie greeted, while standing up, supporting Hope.

"I...I know that. I'm not here because of him." The cat fidgeted a bit. Kylie raised a brow, but didn't pry, giving her time. "If...if it's not...not too late...to take on your offer... Do you...maybe...have a job for me?," she asked finally, looking down, not meeting her eye.

Kylie's expression softened immediately. "But of course.," she answered without hesitation, having Blaze look up in surprise. "Mali, do you have the catalog by any chance?," Kylie asked the secretary, who had already started to rummage, until she managed to find a huge staple of paper, barely held together, that looked heavy enough to kill a mobian should the staple ever fall off the desk and on his or her head.

Blaze went to retrieve it and although Mali gave it to her as gently and slowly as she possibly could, its weight nearly sent the cat to the ground face first. "This is the catalog with all job descriptions offered here.," Kylie explained, while the cat carried the thing over to a seat and let it fall on it with a loud SMACK!

"You seem to be very descriptive.," she mentioned sourly while flexing her for sure hurting arms. "Here are a lot of jobs required. Anyway, just take your time in reading through the descriptions and choose. I have something to do first, but then I'll come to you and we can talk about your employment.," Kylie smiled, starting to lead her friends towards a hallway. "Thank you.," Blaze said, letting Kylie turn to her once more. "After all I said...I'm sorry for that.," she apologized.

"Don't be. It was your right to try it on your own. I just hope, that we find something for you. See you later." With a wave, Kylie turned to walk down a hallway, her friends in tow, leaving a happily smiling Blaze behind.

"Sorry about this entrance.," Kylie apologized. "No problem, really. I would have probably not reacted much differently in your situation.," Sonic quickly reassured.

"Tell me about it. I really hope, that this won't happen again. It worries me, that three children could that easily disappear from a school ground and only a teenager going on another school noticed it.," Kylie growled, wearing the same scowl from before she entered the foyer.

"Who were you speaking with earlier?," Sonic just had to ask. "The director of Emma's school. He better changes some things and fast, or I'll take matters in my own hands – and then heads will roll!"

While Shadow and Tails rather fell a bit back after hearing her passionate tone, Sonic didn't budge, just grinning proudly. Instinct Sonic hadn't have any less expectations concerning his fellow Alpha.

"So, where are we headed?," he asked. "I want to scan you again to see, how much of the drug remains is still in you." "Oh, great. Which one will it be? The one, where I need a foil on me, the one with the hole in the middle, or the one, that almost busted my eardrums?," Sonic asked sarcastically, not looking forward to any of them.

"The last one.," Kylie replied, humor in her voice. "Don't worry, it should go by faster than last time."

"Really?," Sonic wasn't convinced. "Yes. Last time, the scanner needed to do countless calculations to create a new profile for you, this was your first time in it, after all. Now, the scanner just needs to compare your data with the new findings. That's just a matter of five to seven minutes. Plus, now I know, where to look in your body. How are you feeling today?," she asked.

"Pretty good, just a little tired and drained. At least the fever broke and I can eat things again."

Shadow sweatdropped at that. This was putting it lightly. Sonic had made up for the two weeks with almost no food in his system by spending almost every wakeful moment the last days with eating the meals his mate had cooked almost without an end. He had barely left the kitchen over the day during this time. He had even spent one night sleeping in a kitchen chair, when rest hadn't been an option but a need for once.

"Any problems with nightmares?," Kylie continued to ask. Shadow felt strangely detached from their conversation, as if he wasn't supposed to say something in it.

After all, this was a talk among Alphas. Other colony members – even the Alphas' mates – could only interfere, when it was important, or the Alpha wanted it. His instincts were therefore against any answering of questions not directed to him, although he couldn't consciously name the reason for that. Nonetheless, he followed the conversation intently.

"Only, when the dose of your medicine is wearing off.," Sonic answered easily enough. "So? How long does that take?," Kylie asked thoughtfully, while adjusting Hope against her chest a bit. Mist had long since disappeared, either trusting Kylie with her, or not able to stay for now.

"Er...Shads?," Sonic asked over his shoulder. "About 6 to 6,5 hours with each dose.," he answered immediately, getting a gentle smile in thanks. "And how much sleep do you need?," Kylie asked further.

"Uh...Tails?," Sonic asked. Since Shadow was usually out of the house, before Sonic woke up, the fox would know it more likely, than the other.

"Unless there was a fight or we went to bed really late, Sonic sleeps for about eight to nine hours.," Tails answered.

"I see. Interesting, that someone with your metabolism still needs as much sleep as an average mobian or human.," Kylie mentioned.

"Well, Sonic eats a lot, when he has the time. I'm pretty sure, that this makes up for a few hours. And...well, there's always Chaos Energy. When he fights with the emeralds, then he's usually less tired. Otherwise, he _likes_ it to sleep very long, we just don't have that much opportunities for that. Besides, Sonic just isn't the type to sleep his life away, he's too restless.," Tails tried to explain. He was sometimes baffled himself by how less sleep Sonic needed. It had happened several times, that he had fought a hard fight against Eggman and two to three hours later, he had already been awake again and raided the fridge for chilidogs, all because of the Chaos Emeralds being involved. He seemed to enjoy it to beat his baby brother's calculations on a regular basic.

"Okay, that makes sense. However, six hours of sleep won't do and I honestly don't want you to sleep less than you need. It could become unhealthy. So, try to take one more pill in the evening. If you want to take a nap during the day, just take one of the pills. Try that out and tell me in a few days, if it worked."

"Alright. How is Scourge, by the way?," Sonic agreed and asked. "I didn't have the time to check up on him today, but he was great yesterday. He is out of danger either way, so you don't have to worry too much."

"And Fleetway?," Sonic continued to ask, accepting her previous answer. "He makes progress. Slowly. Very, very slowly.," Kylie added with an air of frustration. Zen tried since days now to get the concept of meditation in his brain. It shouldn't be _that_ difficult, but it was. The male couldn't sit still for a minute. The yellow furred uke wasn't done, yet, but Kylie wasn't sure about what more he could try.

"We saw him earlier, with someone named Ed.," Sonic explained. "You probably mean Ed Walters, a teacher for the semes. He teaches them basic knowledge, like history, reading and writing. Fleetway learns reading and writing with him."

"He doesn't strike me as a guy for school...," Sonic mentioned. "Well, he normally wouldn't be, but he wants to read those cards. You know, the ones, that are most likely meant for Scourge."

"And who reads them to him, until he can do it on his own?," Sonic asked. "Usually, Ed. Don't know, why, but he doesn't want me to do this anymore.," Kylie answered, while opening the door to the room with the scanners, much to Sonic's dismay. He noticed, that the scanner, that had caught fire a while back with him in it, was covered by a large cloth and had a sign with 'Out of order' on it.

"WOW!," Tails exclaimed the second he had laid his eyes on the interior and he pushed past his brother to examine the remaining scanner with excitement in his every move. "These are the newest on the market! Where did you get those?," he asked, while trying a few buttons.

He reminded Sonic of a child in a candy or toy store and the hero felt his cheeks heat up. "Er...sorry about that.," he apologized towards Kylie, who walked over to the examination table for the ultrasound and proceeded with taking off the cloth and placing it gently on the table top, building a small nest around Hope and covering her with some of the remaining cloth, before going over to the fox. "I don't mind.," she told the hero on the way and stopped next to Tails.

"From the market, naturally." she grinned, answering the young fox' question. "Having lots of money is a virtue sometimes – especially, when you want the newest of things."

"Can I copy its algorithms on my Miles Electric? I'd like to build one on my own.," Tails asked, scolding himself for forgetting the device.

"But we do have one already, don't we?," Sonic questioned. He wasn't too sure, since Tails had invented so many things already...

The fox looked down, biting his lip, his enthusiasm lost. "This one's better.," he mumbled. Kylie's expression softened. "Because it detected, what was wrong with Sonic?," she guessed. The young genius just wrapped his tails around himself.

"Tails, this wasn't your fault. Despite me thinking that sometimes, you don't know everything – and I don't blame you for not finding out about something so strange. I never will. You did your best, buddy, I'd never expect any more than that.," Sonic told him gently.

It felt strange, that he had to tell his brother something he should already know. Had his sickness made him this insecure?

Well, usually, Tails had no problem with analyzing things and coming quickly to a conclusion. The hero's sickness had challenged him like unknown things always did – but for the first time in ages, someone else had beaten him – and by a long shot, too.

Kylie had known, where to search and how to cure it, two things, that he hadn't been able to figure out. It probably bugged him, that the woman – who wasn't a genius – had outsmarted him.

Normally, he could take it to not know something. He knew very well, that it just wasn't possible to know everything and it was okay. But he had always tried to know everything _important_, like medicine or how to survive and act under dire circumstances – which was more often needed, than one would think... – and since recently about ukes. There was just the problem of all the hatred and the myths concerning the hedgehogs. Getting adequate information, that wasn't guessed or invented, was hard and the young fox was scared, that, should again something happen to his brother, he wouldn't be able to help. Or worse, he made everything take a turn for the worst with his tries and incomplete knowledge.

Kylie seemed to guess his train of thought. Basically, she thought like this, too. "You know, Tails, we have a few minutes to spare, before we get the results from this scan. I think, there is a room I want to show you.," she mused. "Um...okay?," the fox questioned.

* * *

The scan happened just like a few days earlier, but this time, Kylie gave him some earplugs for mobian hedgehogs, that were broader than the ones for humans. Blocking out Shadow, who for sure wanted to know, why Kylie had been so sheepish to give them to him and Tails, who had a million and one questions, that just made him dizzy to listen to, Sonic tried to stay as still as possible to get away quickly.

It worked, in what felt like seconds, Shadow already helped him off the table again. "Can we go now?," he asked, once he stood again and had given the earplugs back. Kylie chuckled, while carefully hanging Hope back in the cloth around her neck. "Sure. Come on.," she waved and they left the room, Sonic being outside, before she had opened the door properly.

"My, what are we anxious.," the woman grinned, while leading them further down the hallway. "I like moving better, so what?," the hedgehog shrugged. "Since you were sick for a while, you should rather take it easy and concentrate on building up muscle mass. Let me guess, the run here was pretty exhausting, wasn't it?," Kylie smirked.

"Okay, how did you guess this now?," Sonic asked, just not getting, how Kylie seemed to know everything.

"You smell like sweaty mobian.," the woman shrugged. Seeing the offended faces, when she turned around, she giggled. "It's not a bad smell, honest. Kind of like wet dog, just not as obtrusive. So?" "Fine, yeah. I just need to train my endurance a bit, no problem.," Sonic shrugged himself. "Good, that you see reason. We're here.," she declared and pushed open a double door, leading to a spacious room, filled with rows of shelves, each one packed with books.

"Wow, that's a huge library!," Sonic whistled. "I know, right? It has all kinds of books to all kinds of topics, from cooking...to ukes.," Kylie emphasized, looking meaningfully at Tails, who perked up.

"Each book was thoroughly checked for the truth of their contents, so they are reliable.," she explained. Tails gasped and began to run between the shelves, quickly learning the order of the books and shelves to orient himself. Thankfully, there was no one he could run into, they were currently alone here.

He disappeared behind a shelf and came a minute later back with both arms full of books. "Can I borrow those?," he asked excitedly. "Sure. Just make sure, that you return them. Usually, you need an ID to get those books, but I'll allow it this once, making the ID takes a day and a few documents." "Thanks, Kylie!," the fox beamed up to her. "Anytime.," the woman smiled.

"Dr. Ellen?" Nicole's avatar appeared out of an ornament in the ground and bowed to them. "I have the test results you wanted."

A screen appeared in front of her, showing a similar picture to the one Sonic had seen before, the silhouette of himself. It still had the bluish dots forming his spine, but most of the others were either gone, or had shrunken to the tiniest dots, showing, that the drugs had almost completely left his body. "I must say, I'm impressed. Your body works faster than I anticipated. One more bath – and everything is out of you, that can leave you actually this way.," Kylie explained. "Great.," Sonic nodded. He really wasn't a friend of baths, but one more wouldn't kill him.

"And another thing, if you would step to my terminal to your right, you can find an USB-stick with the blueprints you wanted to download.," Nicole continued towards Tails, nodding in said direction, where there stood something looking like a ticket machine.

While he looked at it, a small sound coming from it indicated, that something had been dropped in a small, bowl-like bottom compartment, that could be assessed easily by someone of the fox' height. With a dropped jaw, he went closer and pulled out a small USB-stick. "Woah.," he whispered. "You can give out data like that?," he asked, astounded. "Yes, of course.," Nicole replied.

Seeing, that the fox would use that to his advantage if not stopped, Sonic quickly grabbed him and steered him away from the AI with a mumbled. "I think we should go now, I need a chilidog".

Tails noticed, that his brother wanted to leave because of exhaustion rather than hunger and with his health still in mind, he let himself lead out. He could always come back later.

* * *

They returned to the foyer after that, Shadow transporting the books for Tails to his room. Kylie went after their goodbyes to talk with Blaze and the brothers left with Shadow towards the Tornado.

"Shads, wanna take a shortcut, or take a ride with us?," Sonic asked on the way. "Actually, I need to go to GUN, Rouge wants me to meet up with her.," Shadow explained.

"Was this, why you pounded Mighty through the door?," Sonic asked, but there was only humor in his voice. He had nothing against people fighting with Mighty – or Knuckles for that matter –, since he knew, that there was not much, that could hurt them.

Shadow grimaced. "Yeah. Sorry about that, but he offered and I went a bit overboard...," he went to apologize, but Sonic just laughed and hung himself to his seme's arm, nuzzling his shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous, love. Mighty said himself, that you can come to him whenever you like, you didn't hurt him!," he laughed. "And I don't hate you for it.," he whispered reassuringly, feeling some of the tension in his boyfriend ease under his hands and cheek.

Reaching the Tornado, Tails jumped in, waiting patiently for Sonic to take a seat as well. "I'll see you later, then.," Sonic smiled and gave his boyfriend one last peck, before he warped away.

"Sonic?," he heard Tails call down to him and he looked up to see the fox peer over the edge of the plane. "What's up, little buddy?," he asked cheerfully.

The young genius blushed a little, like always, when he felt stupid for asking a question, and finally just spit it out. "Do you...think, that...Shadow hates me?," he mumbled quietly.

"W-what? Tails, why do you think that? ...Did he say that?," he asked, heat creeping in his voice. He loved Shadow, dearly so, but if he attacked his brother, even if only verbally, he would kick him once across the complete planet.

"Nonononono!," Tails quickly reassured. "I promise, that's not, why I'm asking!," he quickly reassured. He knew, that Sonic would break up with Shadow, should he ever think or say something like that, but also, that it would make him unbearably sad.

"Okay then.," Sonic sighed in relief, jumping up from where he stood and landing on one of the wings, seating himself comfortably on it to be closer to his brother.

"Why do you think that, buddy?," he asked again, being more gentle now. "It's just...I sometimes get the feeling, that I'm standing in your way...of the both of you...," the younger mumbled, playing with his tails. He couldn't name just yet, what exactly he stood in the way of, but he felt it nonetheless.

Sonic's expression softened. "I see. Okay, I'll be honest there with you. You know, couples like it to be among each other, without anybody around to disturb them. I also enjoy being with Shads."

He noticed Tails shrink in himself a little. "But that doesn't mean, that I love you any less or that I'll move out to leave you on your own. You'll always be my little buddy and my brother and I'll always be there for you. That's something not even Shadow can change.," he declared.

Tails blushed, this time in embarrassment. "Now, how about the promised ride home? I could actually take a nap already right here.," he yawned and let himself fall backwards to lie sprawled out on the wing, his legs dangling off the edge.

"Sonic, no!," Tails immediately chastised, his uneasy feeling from earlier gone. "Remember, what happened last time?" Sonic rolled himself a little to the side to see his brother's disapproving scowl. "Come on, it's a nice day, not like last time – and I didn't fall THAT much.," he argued.

"Because Shadow caught you. And is he here?," the fox grumbled moodily. Sonic chuckled. Sometimes, he really wondered, who the older of them was. It felt good, though, that they talked with each other as freely as they usually did.

"Alright, alright, I give.," he conceded eventually, stood up and jumped in the second seat. "To home, dear sir.," he waved like to a chauffeur and Tails giggled. "Alright, hold on your quills, sir.," he played along and soon after, they were on their way home, laughing and joking all the time.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shadow appeared in front of the door of the office he shared with Rouge and Omega. Well, Omega usually just stood in a corner, until he was needed. Rouge sometimes joked, that a broom closet would have been enough for the robot.

However, not today, he could tell. The bat was far too stressed for jokes. That's, why he had warped outside of the office. Being a bat, Rouge wasn't a fan of light flashes. She could suck it up, of course, but when she was under pressure, her tolerance was much lower. He rather didn't try to set her off.

He even knocked at the door, that was big enough to fit Omega through, before opening it and entering.

The office was relatively spacey, with a large window front at the wall opposite the door and two desks – mobian-sized – were in the back corners. Two cupboards for files and a few plants, that Rouge took care of, were the only other objects – if you didn't count in Omega – in the room.

Rouge stood with her back to him, brooding over something on her desk. Omega was in his usual corner on the left from the door. Judging by the frequent beeping, he was calculating something.

"Rouge?," Shadow asked finally, making the bat flinch. She either hadn't heard him knock, because she had been so deep in concentration, or she had expected someone else.

The bat was quick to pull files over whatever she had looked at, before turning around to him, leaning against her desk in what she tried to make look like a relaxed posture. "Shadow. Did everything go well with Sonic?," she asked, almost nervously.

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Yes, he is almost back to normal and on his way home. What is it you wanted to tell me?," he asked, barely concealing his impatience.

Rouge pushed herself away from her desk and straightened, squaring her shoulders. "We are expected in the conference room.," she told him curtly and started to walk towards the door. Shadow let her pass him and followed her out of the room and down the hallway.

"We have a case.," Rouge informed him calmly, while they walked. She seemed to be more comfortable with talking to him while being behind her.

The seme raised a brow. They rarely had cases, they usually just had missions. Only, when the team first assigned to the case had to face obstacles they couldn't overcome, special teams like Team Dark were activated.

"It's pretty much like a cold case...more or less. It's rather complicated.," Rouge rubbed her head. "A murder case. In the course of...a very long time..., there were several murders, that followed the exact same pattern. Since almost a week, there happened crimes all over the world, that are awfully close to those old ones. The only difference is, that there are several people doing the killing." "Suspects?," Shadow asked, going into his agent-mode.

Rouge sighed, stopping in front of the conference room. "Sadly, it's not that easy.," she explained and opened the door to let them in.

Inside, Shadow saw Topaz, the current commander, sitting at the head of the table, under a large screen. As usual, she wore her brown hair short and her decent make-up. There were dark bags under her violet eyes, however.

At the large oval table, that almost filled the complete room, sat a few more people, most of them humans, but Shadow also spotted a few wolf mobians, including a female with light gray fur and long black hair in a braid, that he had seen several times at GUN. Everyone was stone faced and most didn't even look up, when the two mobians entered.

"Agent Shadow, Agent Rouge, welcome. Please, take a seat.," Topaz greeted them, pointing to the chairs opposite of her, that were still empty. Both mobians obeyed, which Topaz could be proud of. There weren't many, who managed to get Shadow to do something. Shadow liked Topaz, more so than Towers anyway, and respected her as much as she respected them, which was, why he usually obeyed her.

"We are dealing with a murder case, that is beyond everything we experienced so far.," Topaz started, using a small remote control to get the projector hanging from the ceiling to work, showing a picture on the screen.

It was the body of a human man, he seemed to be in his thirties. The throat was cut in deeply, however, no blood was staining the ground around him. His lifeless eyes seemed to stare at the camera.

"This is one of the 30 victims in total, that we have counted since the last five days. The cause of death varies always, there is, however, one thing, that all victims have in common. Their bodies have lost every single drop of blood. The victims, who didn't die from external injuries, show no traces, that would indicate, how the blood was removed."

While speaking, Topaz let several more pictures appear, showing all kinds of victims. The ones doing this had apparently no preferences concerning the victims. Male, female, human, mobian, old, young...there was no pattern.

"Team Alpha researched similar cases and found similar murder cases...since the beginning of crime records.," Topaz explained, gesturing to the humans on her right.

Shadow raised a brow. That was a lot of time, around 2000-3000 years, if his math was correct there.

"Each time, until recently, it was a dozen victims each year, no preferences, mostly cut throats, no blood in the body.," the commander continued.

"Were there ever any suspects?," Shadow asked calmly. "One, you actually heard of him. He's famous as 'The Gentleman Killer'." Shadow raised a brow. So this case? "In the recent ones, however, it is different. And this is the problem."

Topaz paused gravely. "In almost all recent cases, the local police forces were able to arrest the culprits, caught them practically red-handed. However, they all swear by their lives, even after being confronted with unmistakable proofs, that they don't remember a single moment of their doing."

"So? It wouldn't be the first time, that criminals deny their doing, even under the worst pressure.," Shadow replied.

A loud crunch cut off everything the Commander would have said and Shadow – and everyone else – turned to see the female the seme had seen before with her fist embedded deeply in the table's surface, her blue eyes blazing with fury, while glaring at the hedgehog.

"Do you think, that my brothers would have slaughtered their own family in cold blood in front of my eyes and _dare_ to deny it right before me!?," she shouted, looking ready to jump at the male over the huge table.

Shadow spared a quick side glance to the other wolf mobians and saw them hang their heads, their expressions showing obvious shame and trauma.

"Lupe, your wounds reopened.," Topaz stated calmly. "Please go to the medic on this floor and get treated."

One of Topaz' many good improvements since becoming the Commander was the hiring of a group of medics. They were not only responsible for training the soldiers in first aid and medical treatment in battles and under difficult circumstances – which had decreased the mortality rate of GUN-soldiers significantly –, they also had easily reachable wards in the whole GUN-HQ to treat injured, who couldn't – or wouldn't – go to the hospital.

The wolf mobian scowled at her words, but she pulled her hand out of the table, ignoring the splinters and cuts marring the limb, before marching out of the room, her eyes boring into Shadow's, until she couldn't see them anymore. On her way past him, Shadow could see long bloody lines soaking her dress at the back. She had been attacked as well, but survived.

The slam of the door told them, that the female had left the room. "You don't remember any of this?," the hedgehog agent asked the remaining wolves. The younger ones shrunk in themselves, but an older, bulkier one with reddish fur answered him.

"None. We went out to hunt, like always. I remember going in the woods, then nothing. The next thing I remember is standing among the bodies of my pack, my family, with my claws drenched in their blood."

"Was there-?" Rouge put her hand on Shadow's knee, a rare gesture on her side, to stop him.

"Nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary.," Topaz answered for the wolves. "Not even with their very heightened senses could they detect someone or something approaching them, until it was too late."

"And you think, that Team Dark can find something nobody did so far?," Shadow asked. Topaz stared for a moment in his ruby eyes. "Leave us.," she ordered without breaking eye contact and Shadow heard the wolves and humans file out of the room, while Rouge stayed.

"You are right, that I hope for new results coming from your team. However, there is another reason, why I wanted to speak with you." The 'since days', that was hidden in her tone at the last part, was graciously ignored. "I was advised to not do this, but in the given situation, I don't see much choice.," she explained.

Shadow refrained from rolling his eyes. He knew, whose 'advice' she meant. Towers had, during his time as Commander, founded a council of five advisors, that basically just said, what he wanted to hear. As easy as it had been to fire Towers, as difficult was it to get rid of his advisors. Thankfully, Topaz had a backbone and didn't listen to them.

"As you know, all victims lack their blood. What almost nobody knows, though, and which is kept under a very tight lid, is the fact, how the blood was used. On every crime scene were...graffiti-like pictures left behind, drawn with the victims' blood at the walls. Where more than one victim was, were several copies of the same picture found, or a bigger than average version of the picture."

While she spoke, Topaz pressed another button and a new picture was on the screen, showing a simple brick wall, on that had been drawn a picture with red lines, that looked like a master piece. Of course, being there and smelling the blood, the impression would be a different one, but seeing it on a picture, it looked quite good.

It was a strange, rune-like symbol, a geometrical form with perfectly straight lines, that never crossed each other, forming two perfect rectangles, with two circles in each of them and a triangle between the rectangles, looking almost like a joint in a 'bent at the elbow'- arm. And in the created space, half way framed by the odd symbols – dots in three rows. Shadow had seen several versions of that symbol. There were always different numbers of dots. Sometimes three, sometimes eight or a number between those. So far, nobody had been able to find out, what those dots – or the symbol in itself – meant. It looked rather mysterious and menacing, though. "The Gentleman Killer. Interesting. So he operated longer than we thought.," he stated neutrally.

Topaz nodded gravely. "He just didn't murder on this continent all the time, that's why we couldn't make the connection. Until a few days ago, that is. However, the... pictures we found at the recent crime scenes, were different, that's why we believe in a different culprit all together.," the woman continued, hesitated a moment and eventually pressed the button to switch to the next picture. Once it was on screen, Shadow felt his insides freeze.

_**WARNING!**_

Painted on a gray house wall, also with blood, was a picture of Sonic. It was unmistakably him, the mobian hedgehog there showed the confident grin Sonic was famous for. The disturbing thing was, that his head wasn't on his shoulders anymore. His body lay in a heap behind his head, his well-known sneakers lying messily next to it, as if a great force had ripped them off his feet. The scene looked too real, the positions of head and body, the wounds marring the body and staining his gloves even in the monochrome picture too realistic to be just fiction...

_**END OF WARNING!**_

What made his heart beat up to his ears and fear flood his system for good, however, were the four words, that had thin blood rivulets running down from them, yet made the message all the clearer:

_Tick, Tock, Ultimate Lifeform_.

* * *

And done! ...with a cliffhanger, I know, sorry. I'm already working at the next chapter, but this definitely won't come up anytime soon. I'm having online-university due to the recent events... and this seems to be an excuse for all my docents to throw tons of work at us.

Anyway, I hope you liked it. It appears a little rushed towards the end, probably because it WAS rushed... I just didn't want this to be a filler chapter. I had promised to get the story on the road. And, yeah, I did...on the last 3 of 40 pages...yay. Well, I tried to shorten the chapter, to find any useless paragraph...and in the end lengthened the story from 37 to 40 pages. Went well, really. The next chapter will be better, promise.

Have a nice weekend!


End file.
